Someday You Will Be Loved
by Mac-alicious
Summary: Their night of spying on Shawn and Katy has changed things between Maya and Lucas in a way neither expected. Now they're left with this connection between them that they don't know what to do with. / / multi-chap sequel to That Girl Has Love. complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** So, this is my multi-chapter sequel to _That Girl Has Love_. This starts off nearly right where that one shot ended, so it's going to continue to tag along with their "present" time line for the current season. While the one shot kind of fit into the cracks of canon, this will go on to touch _Girl Meets Yearbook_ and _Semi-Formal,_ and turn AU from those episodes. I have quite a few more chapters of this already written, and they'll be typed and posted at various intervals around other content. I just wanted to get this first chapter out before _Girl Meets Texas,_ because this is going nowhere near wherever that may go. I'd love to hear what you think about it. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Someday You Will Be Loved**

 **One**

Maya was curled up, half asleep, on the couch when her mom came home from her date with Shawn. After dropping Lucas off on his doorstep, Maya had decided to wait up for her mom. Even though she had seen first hand that the date was headed for success, she wanted to hear her mom say it was as wonderful as it looked. By morning, Katy would have talked herself down from whatever high she was on and reassessed and adjusted her reaction to manage her daughter's expectations. Maya had to catch her while she was still feeling the after-effects of the experience, before she had the chance to edit her version of the night. So, she took her usual seat on the couch, clicked on the TV, and tucked a throw blanket around her legs to get comfortable and settle in for the evening. Only she had been staring at the muted TV set for so long that her eyelids had begun to droop.

Her head snapped up when she heard the front door close, revealing a crick in her neck that had already set in due to her awkward position on the couch. She rolled her head back to lean over the back of the couch. The new position stretched the muscles in her neck and shoulders, and also gave her an upside down view of Katy in the entryway, juggling keys and a crinkling to go bag as she kicked off her heels next to the door.

"Hi, Mom," Maya said, her voice betraying her grogginess.

Katy looked up to locate her daughter. She shook her head slightly, "I thought you might still be up."

"Only just," Maya answered honestly.

"I brought you leftovers," Maya kissed the top of Maya's head as she passed by on her way to the kitchen.

Maya closed her eyes and leaned into the brush of her mom's lips. "How was it?"

"Hmm," Katy hummed a response as she took the to go bag into the kitchen. "Delicious. You'll love it. Are you hungry now? I can warm it for you."

Maya rolled her eyes and twisted around to get an angle where she could see her mother in the kitchen. "I wasn't asking about the food. How was the _date_?"

"Well," Katy stalled, nervously fiddling with the handles on the to go bag.

For a second, Maya's stomach dropped as she assumed her mom was trying to find a way to sugarcoat the news that it hadn't gone as well as it appeared. Then she blinked her eyes clear and took a closer look at her mom. Katy's cheeks were flushed a rosy pink and she couldn't contain the urge to smile. Nothing had gone wrong. She was just shy about revealing how great it had gone.

"Oh, Maya, it was..." Katy trailed off, unable to place the appropriate word.

"Amazing? Fantastic? Out of this world spectacular?" Maya suggested possibilities as she hopped up from the couch and joined her mom in the kitchen.

"All of the above?" Katy gushed and took both of Maya's hands in her own. She was smiling uninhibited now. "I don't know, Maya, Shawn was..." She pressed her cheek into a lifted shoulder. "And the restaurant was just so..." She sighed softly. "The whole night was..."

"Look at you all speechless and flustered," Maya was grinning ear to ear as she swung their joined hands from side to side. "You kiddos are growing up way to fast."

Katy laughed. "You're too much."

"Well, my flair for the dramatic came from you if anywhere," Maya said. "Now, I want you to tell me everything about it, but first," She extracted one of her hands to point at the to go bag, "I need some of that, because it smells delish from here already and I'm starving."

Katy fixed Maya a plate of leftovers and then joined her daughter on the couch, bringing herself some ice cream from their freezer and a spoon to eat straight from the carton. They sat facing each other, with their backs propped against opposite arms of the couch. They draped the throw blanket over both of their legs. Maya dug into her plate while she listened to her mom's story, which was punctuated by healthy spoonfuls of chocolate ice cream.

"He picked me up at Topanga's," Katy began. She waved her spoon around as she spoke. "He brought me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers. It was all my favorites, fresh and vibrant. And he was so nervous, he tried to be smooth, but a girl just knows. He played it off well though, and it was nice, you know, to know it meant a lot to him too. Even when you're our age, when you care, when something is important to you, when you take chances, you can't help but get those flutters in your stomach that _no amount_ of experience can teach you what to do with."

Maya smiled and took another melt in her mouth bite of her dinner.

"And the restaurant, Maya, you would have loved it. It was this gorgeous, intimate little place. Dimly lit, full of modern art and ritzy décor, you know the sort, with its wine list and cloth napkins."

"Oh no, cloth napkins, you say?" Maya replied.

Katy smiled around her spoon and then slid the clean spoon from her lips. "It was wonderful. Shawn got us a table with a perfect view through the window, where we could watch the people and cars go by. I loved it. I don't know how he could have known that I like that, but he exceeded all my expectations. I wish you could have seen the place. It was perfect."

Maya didn't think her mom needed to know that she may have let those seating preferences slip to Shawn one afternoon, or that she dropped casual hints about which flowers would garner a positive reaction to give him all the help he could get. She certainly wasn't going to share that she had gotten to see the restaurant and all its glorious perfection, because she and her cowboy friend had spied on the whole beginning of the date. It was better if she kept those things to herself. Besides, she wasn't going to take any credit for it, all that belonged to Shawn.

"We talked and talked," Katy said. "About _everything_. Our pasts, our hobbies, our professions or lack there of, our likes and dislikes, our hopes, our... _you_."

Maya set aside her now picked clean plate. She pulled her knees to her chest, rested her arms on them and then propped her chin on her arms.

"I felt comfortable and safe and understood," Katy drew in a deep breath and let it go slow. "I haven't felt this good about someone in a... _very_ long time. Shawn is..."

"Shawn is," Maya agreed.

"Anyway," Katy bounced her shoulders. "We took a short stroll after dinner, digesting... _processing_. And..."

"And?" Maya prompted.

"And he walked me to my door like a gentleman," Katy said.

" _And_?" Maya's eyebrows lifted and she grinned as she stared her mom down.

"And...and," Katy weaved her head back and forth, laughing lightly, blushing quite a bit, and changed the subject. "You know, one day, maybe soon, you're gonna meet a special boy and then we'll be doing this again, only, instead, _you'll_ be telling _me_ about the magical night you had and the boy, who makes you smile for no reason and fills you with joy and light. Someday, Maya, you'll understand."

Maya gave her a twisted, lopsided smile.

"It's late. We should get ready for bed," Katy said in a rush and stood up.

Maya helped collect the dirty dishes and followed her to the kitchen. "He kissed you. He kissed ya good, didn't he?"

Katy didn't say no.

…

Maya didn't get to see or talk to Lucas until Monday morning at school, but she had to admit that he had been on her mind. She had asked him on her spy mission because it was convenient, but after it all, she couldn't imagine anyone else by her side. It made her a little guilty, but the thought did cross her mind that she was glad Riley had been stuck babysitting. Maya loved her best friend, but it had been an important night for her and her mom and she had been filled with doubts and fears and an anxious energy that made her tingle all the way to her fingertips. It had felt like, as hyperbolic as it was, her entire future hinged on the failure or success of that date. If Maya had posed her question to Riley, if she had asked about her chances of finding love, Riley would have comforted her with sunshiny fantasies about Maya's potential Prince Charming, the epic romance that followed, and their double wedding complete with horse drawn carriages, millions of rose petals, and matching wedding dresses. Riley's belief in storybook endings was great in certain situations, but that enthusiastic optimism wasn't what Maya was looking for the other night. Somehow, Lucas had known exactly what she needed to hear and said all the right things. He had given her something real, something grounded, something she could hold on to that would carry her through. It had meant the world to her, and she needed to know that it wasn't just words to him. So, the first thing she did that morning was find him.

"Howdy Do," Maya said when she approached him at his locker.

"Is that a new nickname, or was that your attempt at a Texan greeting?" Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Does _anything_ count as Texan if it's not punctuated by a yee-haw?" Maya countered.

"Do you want to know how we _really_ greet people in Texas?" Lucas asked, leaning in as if he was sharing a secret.

Maya shifted closer as well, her eyes locked on his. "Tell me."

"We say, _Good morning, Maya_ ," Lucas said. There was that smile on his face again, so at least she knew _that part_ had been real.

Maya rocked back on her heels as she laughed. "Good morning, Lucas."

Lucas laughed with her as he closed his locker. He leaned against it and turned toward her, focusing all his attention. "How was the rest of your weekend?"

"Good, great even," Maya said. "I thought about calling you yesterday to tell you everything my mom told me about her night, but Shawn brought over brunch. He said it was to see me before he had to leave the city for a work thing, but I think we all knew it was just an excuse to see my mom again."

"That's a good sign," Lucas said and Maya nodded.

"I really, honestly, just wanted to thank you again for the other night," Maya said. She spotted Riley making her way toward them midway through, but she kept going, "but I didn't know if you had gotten in trouble or not."

Riley clearly overheard, because as soon as she hopped into place in front of Lucas and Maya, she released a slew of overexcited questions that were nearly impossible to wade through.

"What happened the other night? What other night? Did you two…? Why wasn't I there? Why would he be in trouble? What did you _do_?"

"Calm down, sweets," Maya patted Riley on her shoulder.

"I can't be calm. I want to know things. Tell me the things I want to know. Tell me now." Riley looked back and forth between Maya and Lucas with wide eyes.

"My mom and Shawn had their first date on Saturday, remember? When you couldn't go with me to spy on them, I asked Lucas to join me, that's all," Maya met Lucas's eyes. Something in them and something about the feeling building in her chest said that _was not all_. But Riley didn't need to know that. Maya looked away, landing her gaze back on Riley. "I figured he could keep me out of trouble at least half as well as you could."

Lucas snickered, drawing the pairs of eyes back to him. He smirked slightly at Maya. "Trouble follows you like a shadow. I don't think it matters whose company you're in."

"Now see here, Huckleberry," Maya started, but was cut off by the warning bell.

"Hold that thought. I'd love to hear it later," Lucas said, blowing Maya over with that smile again. It shifted away as he glanced at Riley. "Shall I escort you ladies to class?"

Riley nodded vigorously.

Maya hesitated. "I, uh, actually need to run to my locker. I'll—I'll meet you there."

"Okay," Lucas said. "See you in a few."

Maya nodded once and headed for her locker while Lucas and Riley turned the other direction toward their first class. She needed a moment to clear her head and to try to make herself feel normal again. She had felt like everything was spinning faster since Saturday and it didn't seem to be slowing down anytime soon. All the sweet things Lucas had said that night were dancing around her head with her mom's wishful thinking about Maya's future romances. It all swirled around and around as she rested her forehead against her locker.

Because the one thing her mom hadn't told her was what to do if she had already met that boy.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Second chapter. Many more written and coming soon. I'm enjoying this story very much. So, there's a way a certain word (name) came out when I was writing this that made me nostalgic for my days of writing _Life With Derek_ fan fiction. It wasn't even on purpose, but it happened and I left myself a note in the margin of my page, like "Aw!" If you ever dabbled in that fandom, you might notice it, but it's hardly important. Anyway, let me know what you think. Enjoy! R &R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Two**

"Why didn't you tell me that you asked Lucas to go out with you Saturday?"

Maya's head shot up from where she was pretending to read her science textbook, sprawled out on the floor of Riley's bedroom, at her best friend's question. Riley was watching her from her bed, with her pencil drifting over her math homework. Maya's heart started to race, pounding out a distressing beat against her ribcage. She was panicking, no doubt about it. Her palms were sweating, her cheeks were flushed and she gulped down the lump that had formed in the past few seconds.

"I didn't _ask him out_ ," Maya insisted.

Riley rolled her eyes, "I know that. I meant, why didn't you tell me you had him go with you? And you call me the dork."

Maya released a sigh of relief. That was a question she could answer. "It didn't seem important. It was him or Farkle. And, I don't know. I just picked him."

Riley shrugged. "I would have picked him too."

Riley seemed satisfied with the answer, because she returned her attention to her math homework, completely oblivious to the fact that her words had caused her best friend's stomach to sink instantly. Maya was possessed by the head to toe physical embodiment of "oh no." Dread, that was the word for it. Harper would be proud of her for expanding her vocabulary. Her pride over that realization was short lived. Maya didn't know why Riley's casual comment had effectively shut her body down, but she was no longer functioning properly. This was a start of a problem, she just couldn't pinpoint where she had slipped up and let it happen. Maya was usually so careful about all things concerning Riley, but she had made a miscalculation somewhere. One night out with the Huckleberry—albeit an amazingly insightful and productive night—and she had let control of the situation slip from her grasp. She needed to wrangle it back into her possession and she needed to stop integrating country language into her thoughts when Lucas wasn't around. If they weren't being used to tease a stupid grin onto his stupid Golden Boy face, then they were of no use to her, which didn't explain why they kept popping up willy nilly in her subconscious in the absence of Ranger Rick.

"Hey, did you do this?" Riley stirred Maya from her thoughts again by stretching out her arm and shaking her math worksheet in Maya's face. "I can't figure out number twenty three."

It was Maya's turn to roll her eyes. "Should we be expecting zombies or some _Day After Tomorrow_ climate change? Because it must be the apocalypse if you think I did my homework before you did."

"But you are studying for the science test, right?" Riley looked at her hopefully.

"Sure, Riles, and someplace, somewhere, a piglet just sprouted wings," Maya said, waggling the fingers of both hands in imitation of butterfly wings taking flight and smiling the whole time.

Riley groaned and threw her head back. "Ma- _ya_! Daddy's gonna start kicking you out if you keep being a bad influence."

"What? _You're_ doing your homework," Maya said.

"Yeah, but now I don't wanna," Riley folded her arms over her notebook and dropped her head into the nest her arms created. She moaned, "I don't know nothin'! Number twenty three is mocking me, Maya. _Mocking me._ "

"Text Farkle for help," Maya replied, using her textbook as a pillow now that she had blown her charade. "He could probably do that worksheet in his sleep. You know, the same way I'm going to try to absorb all these science-y facts in...my...sleep..."

Maya slowed down as she actually started to doze off. She got all of a quarter of a second to rest before Riley rudely interrupted.

"Farkle is the perfect solution. He's practically a human calculator, which is perfect because my real calculator is not helpful at all," Riley jabbered on as she typed away on her phone, pausing only to fix a glare on said calculator and flick it away from her. The part about Farkle went over Maya's head; it was the next part that jolted her back to attention. "And _you_ should text Lucas. He said he might stop at Topanga's to study for the science test. Maybe you could go join him. The change of scenery might motivate you to _actually_ study."

"That's actually a good idea, Riles," Maya sat up and stretched. "My sweet tooth could use a pick me up and with Mr Perfect _and_ my mom looking over my shoulder, I might actually get something done."

So, while Riley started to video chat with Farkle and he began to explain the elusive number twenty three as well as several questions from the chunk of worksheet that she hadn't tried to tackle yet, Maya gathered her things. She tucked her science textbook under her arm and waved goodbye to Riley and the Farkle in her phone, before leaving the room.

'Hey Hop Along, did you mosey on down to the ol' watering hole?' She wrote as she went out into the hall.

Lucas's response time via text was always quick, and this time was no exception. 'If you mean to ask if I'm at Topanga's, the answer is yes.'

'Well, rustle up some grub. I've got a hankerin' for some of Mama's down home cookin.' I'll be down, directly.'

'I reckon I'll see you then.'

Maya laughed despite herself. She was never going to break this boy. She typed in one last message. 'Pins and needles, Cowboy.'

When Maya arrived at Topanga's, she found Lucas at one of the tables in the back of the place. His head was down as he read over some notes that he was checking against his open textbook. There was also a pastry on a plate, on the table in front of him. Upon closer inspection, she saw that it was her favorite of the pastries served at Topanga's. Her mouth watered just at the sight of it. Lucas looked up when she slid into the chair across from him. She dropped her textbook down on the tabletop, out of their way for the moment. A small, closed mouth smile appeared on Maya's face as her eyes flicked back and forth between the pastry and Lucas.

"For me?"

Lucas smiled back and pushed the plate closer to her. "For you."

She bared her teeth in a full grin and dug right in. "You know me so well, Sundance."

Lucas laughed lightly. "You asked and I delivered."

"When has that ever been our thing? I demand, you refuse, and so on until you cave. Lather, rinse, repeat," Maya licked away some of the sugary glaze that her last bite of pastry had left behind on her lips and didn't notice that Lucas's eyes had drifted lower, away form meeting her gaze. "It's more fun that way."

"But not quite as sweet," Lucas replied and his eyes darted back up to hers.

"You are right about that," Maya agreed.

"So," Lucas nodded his head to her textbook. "I thought you were studying with Riley today."

"Apparently, pretending to read my study material for ninety minutes is grounds for dismissal," Maya said. "She's passing the problem off to you."

"Do you think you're a problem, Maya?" Lucas asked.

So, maybe, she chose to come here instead of staying with Riley, because she liked the way Lucas was looking at her right now. Not hopeful, not sending up a prayer that he won't be disappointed again, not the way Riley had looked at her earlier. But certain, steady—like, no matter what her answer was, he knew the truth. She had never felt better about herself than when he looked at her like that. She needed that in her life.

Maya shrugged one shoulder. She didn't know what to say, so she used pastry to make a verbal response impossible.

"Nothin' to say, huh?" Lucas said. He leaned back in his chair and watched her slowly chew her bit of pastry. "You just want me to say a bunch of nice things about you, so you can make fun of me for them later."

Maya continued to chew, though by that point she was faking it. She just kept her eyes on him and gnawed away at nothing.

"Fine, I'll say one thing. _One thing_ , because I have to. I can't keep sitting here pretending like I believe you've got anything left in your mouth and you aren't just biting your own tongue. We'll both look crazy," Lucas cracked like she knew he would. "If you're a problem—which you aren't, by the way, not even close to it—but, _if you were_ , I'm glad you're _my_ problem. I'll take you off of Riley's hands anytime."

Maya struggled to keep a smile off of her face. She made a dramatic show of pretending to swallow. She tapped her quickly emptying plate. "You know these pastries are just hell fired delicious. You should get one for yourself."

Lucas rubbed a hand over his face. "I'm good."

And it was like the little moment was forgotten. Sure, Maya had wanted to see what Lucas would say about her, but he was wrong about the second part. She had no intention of using his words against him. She meant to lock them away, along with his speech from Saturday that had made her stomach flip flop and changed the way she looked at him, and herself. Those words were for her and her alone.

The only indicator that anything had passed between them was the laughter they both broke into the next time their eyes met. It just so happened that Maya's mom chose that exact moment to pass by their table while making her rounds to check on customers. Katy stopped short at the edge of their table. She folded her arms and tilted her head as she looked between her daughter and Lucas with a raised eyebrow that was barely hid by a sweep of her blonde hair.

"What do we have here?" Katy asked. "I thought you were over at the Matthews'?"

"Riley kicked me out because she thought Lucas would be a better influence on my study habits," Maya popped the last bite of pastry in her mouth and sighed as it melted on her tongue.

"Maya's just here because she can pretend to study _and_ get free sweets," Lucas answered, his smile almost snarky.

"Balderdash!" Maya exclaimed.

"Did you go and look up Old West Lingo or something?" Lucas laughed at how saturated with western slang their normal conversations had become.

"No," Maya denied. He didn't need to know about the pages she had bookmarked on Riley's computer or that she had taken more detailed notes on that project than during any of her classes, ever. "I just like the word balderdash. It's a fun word. It rolls off the tongue. Bal-der-dash. Come on, say it with me."

Lucas shook his head.

Maya puckered a smile, crinkled her nose, squinted her eyes and nodded vigorously in time with each shake of his head.

Lucas finally groaned and said tightly, " _Balderdash._ "

"Ahha!" Maya whooped and pulled out her phone, stretching it across the table toward his face. "One more time, please. That has to be my new ring-tone."

This dissolved into a bit of a reverse tug of war where Lucas pushed the phone away and Maya shook it closer, both of them laughing. This went on for a couple moments before Katy cleared her throat, reminding them that she was still there. She reached under Maya's outstretched arm to collect the empty plate from the table. Balancing the dish, Katy glanced between the two once again.

"If y'all are gonna study, I'd like to see _studying,"_ Katy said.

"Yeah, Mom," Maya pulled back her arm. "We were just getting to it."

"Alright," Katy said as she started to walk away. She added, over her shoulder, "Have fun."

Maya rolled her eyes. "Sure, that's the word for it."

After Maya's mom was gone, out of earshot, Lucas leaned forward, onto his arms folded on the table. "I think it got lost in the middle there, but did I hear you say _please_?"

"Are we gonna study or not?" Maya ignored him.

"Let's do it," Lucas said. "What have you gotten to so far?"

Maya did her best game show host presenting wave at the cover of her textbook.

"Start at the beginning it is."

Maybe Maya cracked open her textbook then for more than just a place to rest her head for an impromptu nap. If she did it was because her mom was watching, or because she decided it was time to buckle down and actually try to be responsible for her academic success. It was no because she was persuaded by the way Lucas scooted his chair around next to her so he could point out important points as she read. Or because he insisted on buying her a second pastry when her stomach grumbled so loudly that he could hear it. It certainly wasn't because he spent the next twenty minutes after sneaking bits of her pastry when she wasn't looking while she pretended not to notice, because she like the small smile he lit up with every time he got away with it.

Maya also pretended not to notice that his stolen bits of pastry had left traces of icing on his lip too, because admitting that she felt the urge to find out what it tasted like off of him was worse than admitting that Lucas had gotten her to study with only minor bribery and his natural charm.

There was at least one lesson that Maya was learning here, and maybe it was sort of like science, but it wasn't the kind she was going to be tested on.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** And now for chapter three! I've actually written up to chapter six, and once this one has circluated for awhile, I'm going to be posting chapters four and five at the same time, because one is longer than I expected and one is shorter than I wanted and really they could probably both be one chapter because they tie together, but that's an issue for those chapters. We're not there yet. So, here's chapter three. I've got a little bit of direction with this fic, but I keep squeezing things in between the "key" moments I've got noted down as potential chapters for this. So, there's one line in here to honor _Girl Meets Creativity_ because the way this goes AU, I'm not going to touch on its plot points (it's also one of those episodes that is just...eh, to me. It had it's moments, I'll give it that, the Lucas in that ep kind of lines up nicely to the one in this fic, so I like that), anyway, Auggie was adorable in that one, but since Auggie is not really present any in this fic, being centralized on Maya and all, I gave one of his lines to Riley here (because when I wrote the previous chapter and made her all frantic about number twenty three, that was a random number I pulled out of thin air before _Creativity_ aired, so when his line came up during the prime number recitation, I made me laugh harder than it should have. I like coincidences like that). Anyway, let me know what you think! Enjoy! R &R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Three**

"If I didn't know better, I would have thought that was a date," Katy said when they were home and she had her daughter alone.

It was late and a school night. Maya should have been asleep already, resting up to be prepared and energized for her test in the morning, but she was still wired off of something unidentifiable. Something that had the blood in her veins buzzing. Something that kept her head spinning so much that it felt like it was the world that was off kilter.

And maybe her mom had just identified it, because heat flared in Maya's cheeks.

"Hmm," Katy murmured as she watched Maya try to hid her reaction.

"No, geez, Mom," Maya rolled her eyes. "The Huckleberry and I are just friends."

"The way that Riley and Lucas are just friends?" Katy said.

" _Exact_ -ly," Maya nearly choked as she tried to get the word out in a determined and strong manner before she realized what she was saying and the end of the word came out as a whisper when her shoulders sagged under the recognition.

"Mmhmm," Katy looked far too satisfied with herself for Maya's liking. She started to say something else, but was interrupted by the phone ringing.

At this hour, there was only one possible person on the other end of the line. A certain someone who happened to find himself a couple time zones away at the moment. Maya raised an eyebrow and did her best to keep her smile down. Her mom didn't humor her with any response. Katy just picked up the receiver and waited until she was a little down the hall to answer. Still, Maya was able to hear the joyful surprise in her mom's voice as she greeted Shawn before the door to her bedroom closed behind her.

Saved by the ring tone, Maya could breathe again. She collected her things from the living room and retreated to her own room too. Her bag and textbook were left in the corner, out of the way while she got ready for bed. Her long day was finally starting to catch up with her and she started to yawn by the time she pulled back the blankets on her bed. Even so, she was still antsy after she crawled into bed. With her head on her pillows and her blankets wrapped around her, she picked her cell phone up.

'You up, Cowboy?' Maya sent a text message.

A minute later came the response, 'I might be.'

'My mom just got an out of state, cross time zone Goodnight phone call from Shawn.'

'Nice job, Shawn.'

Maya laughed softly to herself. 'I think she wants to pretend that it's not as serious as it is. But this kind of seals it, ya know?'

'She's keeping her guard up,' Lucas wrote and then a second message followed right after. 'The same way you do.'

Maya didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't. She changed the subject.

'Thanks for helping me study," Maya wrote, then quickly added, 'and the pastries.'

As an afterthought, she sent a third text. 'Even though you ate at least half of the second one.'

At the same time, she received Lucas's, 'You're welcome.'

She waited for him to get her third message and after a minute he responded to it too.

'You can't prove anything.'

Maya's laugh turned into a yawn that contorted her whole face. She only just stopped herself from losing her grip on her phone as she held it over her head. It was probably time for her to call it a night before she ended up dropping her phone right on her face.

'I should go to bed,' Maya wrote.

Lucas responded with, 'Goodnight, Maya,' but there were a couple extra letters and a misplaced percent sign in the middle.

Maya sent him back the exact same text, only replacing her name with his. She thought that would be the end of it, but one last text came from Lucas right before she put her phone down for the night. This time his typing was a little more careful and his words woke Maya back up.

'Next time just call me. My fingers don't work as well this late.'

Maya spent twenty minutes trying to come up with a clever response that would downplay the potential sentiment the offer had behind it, and then another hour debating if it was too late to send it now, weighing the consequences that she might face if she did send it. With her head spinning with conflicting questions—what if he was already asleep, what if he wasn't, what if it woke him up, what if he didn't think it was funny, what if he realized how long after his text that she sent it, what if he thought she was a giant dork for putting that much effort into a text, what if he thought the message was rhetorical, what if he was waiting for her to respond—she fell asleep before she could make a conclusive decision one way or the other. She woke up with her phone still clutched in her hand and she cursed herself for forgetting to put it on the charger when she saw the state of her battery life.

Then she cursed Lucas for the things he was doing to her. Only to take it back a few seconds later, because he couldn't possibly have that much of an influence over her to be at fault. _Not_ because she liked the things he did to her.

...

The next morning, Maya stopped at her locker to drop off a couple textbooks she wouldn't need until later and, frustrated with herself, she left her now completely dead, and thus useless, cell phone on one of the shelves too. Then she went to meet her friends at their first class. When she got there, Riley was waiting with Lucas and Farkle. There was a small gap in their circle, so Maya squeezed into it between Riley and Lucas.

"Good morning," Maya said and received a round of greetings. She turned to Riley. "Was Farkle able to explain that math problem to you?"

Riley's eyes darkened briefly. "I hate twenty three."

"It wasn't easy, but she got the handle on it eventually," Farkle answered for her.

"He says I gots it, but I'm not sure that I gots it," Riley said.

"Well, I don't gots it either," Maya said. "So, we can be gots-less together."

"If you needed help with your math, we could have gone over that too," Lucas said, drawing Maya's attention to him for the first time.

Maya shrugged as she glanced up at him. "One thing at a time. I can only fit so much in my head before stuff starts falling out the other side."

"Are you at least ready for the test?" Riley asked. She looked hopeful, but sounded desperate.

"Yes," Maya said, her eyes on Lucas the entire time. "I am totally read. Thanks to Huckleberry, I finally understand that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell meme."

"That's not part of this unit," Farkle frowned. "Right? Did I study the wrong thing? Am I going to fail this test? Is the world ending before I can take it over, is that what's happening?"

"I was joking, Oh-Farkley-One," Maya said. "And, anyways, you've read our textbook cover to cover _five times_ , you're beyond prepared for every test from now until college."

"True," Farkle released a deep breath. "I'm calm."

"You know, between the two of you," Maya pointed at Riley and Farkle. "You can jump to conclusions faster than Hop Along can _hop_... _along_."

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Not your best work, if you don't mind me saying."

"What can I say? I'm exhausted after all the studying and how late I was up last night," Maya looked pointedly at Lucas. "I'll have better material by lunch time."

"I hope so," Lucas said. "Can't have people think you're losing your touch."

Maya was about to continue their banter when Riley interrupted.

"Next time we should all study together," Riley said. "It obviously works better when we have someone to help us."

Maya patted her best friend's shoulder, "Sure, Riles. We can do that."

Riley smiled. "Great."

"Mmhmm," Maya mumbled her response.

Something was nagging at her stomach and it made her reluctant to say anything more on the subject. Maya assumed that Riley's request was purely innocent, because of course it would be easier to plan to study together than it would be for them to seek out the boys later on. Still, part of her was disappointed by the suggestion. She had enjoyed her study session when it was just Lucas and her alone. She had a feeling she wouldn't be quite as thrilled with the group endeavor. It had nothing to do with studying. Maya was starting to prefer having Lucas to herself, because they could tease and bicker playfully in public, but he only said those genuine, serious and lovely things, that made her feel lighter than air, in private. For a few precious moments, she felt special when it was just the two of them. She wasn't ready for that to be over. Or she was confused. She and Lucas were _just friends_. This was only her mom's words from last night getting to her head.

The first bell sounded. Riley and Farkle both went into the classroom. Maya started to follow after them, but Lucas caught her by the elbow and stopped her before she could. His fingers curled around her arm and pulled her back a step so they were out of the view of the open classroom door.

"What is it?" Maya asked.

"Did I scare you off last night?" Lucas asked with his voice low. She wasn't sure if it was because he didn't want to be overheard or if it was because what he was saying was important.

"No," Maya said.

"I didn't mean to make it weird," Lucas said. "And when you didn't respond, I thought maybe I had."

Maya shook her head and calmed his worries with an easy fib. "I fell asleep. I even forgot to put my phone on my charger. I didn't see your last text until this morning. I would have said so, but my phone died before I got here."

"Are you sure? I didn't—" Lucas broke off, sucking in his lips as he changed his mind about saying out loud the rest of the sentence.

Cross any lines—that was the rest of his question, Maya was sure of it. She couldn't say that though. He had crossed some lines, he had crossed quite a few well emphasized lines, but she didn't mind so much that he had. She couldn't say that either.

"I'm sure," Maya said. "And, I'll call you."

"Good," Lucas said.

"You know, if I ever want another late night chat on a whim. I'll keep you on speed dial. What's your number again? One eight hundred yeehaw?" Maya continued. She smiled until Lucas smiled too and then they went into class together.

Riley's eyes followed Maya from the doorway all the way to her desk. She was still staring as Maya settled in next to her. Maya could feel the intensity of the unrelenting gaze boring into the side of her head. She tried to ignore it for several moments, but she broke.

Maya whipped around to look at Riley. "What?"

Riley squinted her eyes and continued to stare. "You're different today."

"Whatever you say, Riles," Maya replied and turned back to the front. She made sure she sounded dismissive, but a single thought swirled around her head.

Was she that obvious?

...

"I am eighty-five percent sure that I passed that test," Maya exclaimed as she sat down across from Lucas at their lunch table.

Riley and Farkle were still in line to get their lunches, so it was just the two of them at the table. Maya had passed on the cafeteria lunch and talked herself out of spending money at the vending machine, so she stole the apple off of Lucas's tray and bit into it before he could protest. When he rolled his eyes at her, she offered it back, but he shook his head. It wasn't the first time she had pilfered from his lunch when she didn't have one of her own, and it wasn't likely to be the last time either.

"Why only eighty five percent?" Lucas asked after she had gotten to swallow her rushed bite of apple.

"Margin of error," Maya shrugged.

"You can't get your hopes up _too_ high," Lucas said. He took the untouched half of his sandwich, placed it on a napkin and slid it across the table to her, without saying a word about the gesture. He just took a bite of his own half and let the conversation continue like normal.

"Well, you know me, Ranger Rick," Maya said. Her fingers pinched the napkin and dragged the sandwich even closer. She picked it up, but didn't take a bite yet. "I manage my expectations."

"We should study together before every test then, if it's working for you," Lucas said. "Maybe then you won't have to manage your expectations _about that_."

Maya nibbled a small bite off the corner of the sandwich and focused on eating that before she responded. She put the sandwich back down on the napkin and let her hands lay palm flat on the table. She met Lucas's gaze across the table.

"Riley wants _all of us_ to study together," Maya said.

"Well," Lucas reached over and placed a hand over one of hers. "We can do that too."

 _Too—_ that one word, those three letters, had never meant so much before.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** So, what happened with this chapter is that I attempted to write a montage of moments that I didn't want to try to make into individual chapters, because they would have been short and dragged on too much at the beginning of this story, so this is just a long, mostly exposition chapter that is more filler than anything, and the next chapter is the guts of what these two chapters were really about (hello my AU take on _Girl Meets_ Yearbook) but it ended up short. Because of that, I'm giving you both chapters at once! YAY! Enjoy this rare occasion! Also, I realized I had an extreme lack of Zay in this story (probably because this was started during those weird in between episodes where even the show seemed to forget he was a character), so he's in this one momentarily, but you might not see him again. I got a soft spot for the kid, but (don't shoot me) I forget about him sometimes. So, let me know what you think of these couple chapters. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Four**

It started at school, that much was clear, when Maya took a chance to look back on it. It was one little thing on top of another, adding up until the whole thing was out of control, bigger than them. In hindsight, she should have seen it coming, but she had been in denial. She didn't understand how one night could light a spark in them, forge a connection they didn't know what to do with. It was _one_ night. A night that wasn't even about them, a night that had been about her mom and Shawn, not about her. Except, it was about her in a way. Now it was not just one night—it was that night and that Monday morning, the afternoon at Topanga's with textbooks and pastries, and every moment that had followed. Maya should have seen it coming, but she didn't. Or she didn't want to. All she wanted was to use any excuse she could to be alone with Lucas. She didn't think it would lead to _that_.

So, it started at school. Most mornings, Maya would meet Riley at their lockers, if they hadn't walked to school together. It was a simple routine, not really one of any importance because they would see each other in first period anyway. It was easily broken. Some days, instead of Riley, Maya would make sure Lucas was the first face she saw in the morning. She would skip stopping at her locker, although her shoulders would hate her later in the day for keeping unnecessary weight on them, and join him at his. He always welcomed her with that smile, even though she often spent the few minutes they had alone together peppering him with whatever array of countrified witticisms she had come up with that day. It bugged her to no end that she couldn't get to him, but it never stopped her from trying. Mostly, that was because she enjoyed watching his face for the moment when the look of faux exasperation slipped. He could never pretend for long that her antics were tiresome, because he loved this part of their friendship as much as she did. She wanted to get under his skin, she wanted to annoy him, but getting him to laugh fully at her silly and barely funny old west humor and getting him to even crack jokes at his own expense was far more satisfying. She didn't have this with any of their other friends, and frankly, this had become the best part of her day. She was completely herself, Lucas was completely himself, and this was the most genuine kind of joy for five minutes.

One time, Lucas shut his locker and turned to her. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her with a completely straight face. "Do you think we could have a conversation that didn't include references to livestock or famous cowboys or saloons? I mean, just once. Do you think it's possible?"

"Well, Huckleberry, I think that's entirely possible," Maya said. She leaned in closer and he mimicked her motion. Whether it was deliberate or an unconscious impulse, it brought their faces within inches of each other. "But I'll tell you a secret."

"And what's that?" Lucas said.

"It would be the most boring conversation we have ever had," Maya said.

"You're probably right," Lucas said. "Besides, I like us just the way we are."

"Me too," Maya whispered back. She wasn't sure when they started whispering, but she was pretty sure she started it with her conspiratorial, 'I'll tell you a secret.'

When their little chats by Lucas's locker started to become an everyday thing, Maya assumed that eventually Riley would catch on. She kinda dreaded the day when her best friend would notice her not just frequent but perpetual absence and begin to ask questions. That day just didn't seem to come. Riley was impressionable, certainly, native and gullible went hand and hand with that one, but she wasn't stupid. She could put two and two together and when she did it wouldn't be hard for her to figure out why Maya was always missing in the morning, because it wasn't like Maya was trying to hide anything. Omitting some of the information maybe, but it wasn't whisking Lucas away to dark corners for secret rendezvous. They were right there, out in the open where anyone could see, because there was nothing wrong with spending time with one of her closest friends, absolutely nothing wrong with that at all. So, the fact that Riley hadn't caught on was a little worrisome to Maya.

Maya decided to check on Riley one morning, to see if she could scope out the reason her best friend was still oblivious. She skirted down the hallway, keeping to the wall, until Riley at her locker came into sight. Except, Riley wasn't alone. She was talking to a guy who also had his locker on their row. Maya knew him from some of their classes, but he usually circled the periphery of their social circle—out there on the border looking in. Now he had found himself right in the center of it all, squeezed into the gap Maya had created by shuffling herself and Lucas off too the side. So there was the reason, Charlie Gardner, that Riley hadn't said a thing about Maya and Lucas getting closer. Easily distracted _was_ another thing that Riley was.

So, the morning locker meetings continued, but it didn't stop there.

At lunch, Lucas started to sweep into the chair next to Maya whenever he could. The rest of their friends took it in stride, reassembling themselves in the other available chairs. The first few times, he just sat there, sharing food out of his lunch with her like normal. He acted like nothing was different, the same as they both had about everything since her mom and Shawn's first date. He was so casual about it that even when things slowly started to be different, it was like nothing was changing at all. Gradually, Lucas started to angle his chair toward her, letting his arm rest over the back of her chair. It made it so she was in his line of sight through the whole hour, letting her know that she had his attention even if he wasn't looking right at her or talking to her directly—similar to how she tended to twist in her chair to lean onto his desk during class, including him in whatever she had to say.

Sometimes letting just a piece of his attention belong to her wasn't enough for him. Lucas would slide his arm further across her chair, bringing himself closer, and then he would lean into Maya, so that whatever he said next was just for her. It didn't matter what he said, if it was silly or serious, special or nothing much at all, as long as it came with his mouth right next to her ear and his breath warm as it settled over her skin. There were times when he did this that Riley would eye them strangely from across the table, as she had with Maya that one day in class, but she never said anything. Other than that, Maya assumed that no one else noticed—but she was wrong.

So, it started at school, but it didn't take long for it to follow them out of John Quincy Adams Middle School and everywhere they went.

First, it was only at Topanga's. Riley had gotten her way about the group study sessions. When they had important projects, particularly troublesome assignments, or tests, they would all gather together—usually in the Matthews' living room. This was helpful, and it seemed to guarantee that Maya would have her homework done, at a more appropriate time than minutes before it was due, at least a few times. Still, it didn't have the same effect as that first study session at Topanga's with Lucas alone. It wasn't that Maya actually wanted to study more, but Lucas was true to his word about them being able to accommodate Riley and have their own meetings of an academic nature—and she couldn't exactly say she was using every excuse to be alone with Lucas unless she was using _every_ excuse.

Maya maintained some semblance of plausible deniability by never making set plans to meet Lucas. She never asked him to meet her and he never asked her to join him. If they kept everything up in the air, tentative and undetermined, then if they were caught, they had some kind of defense. Not that they needed to defend a simple spontaneous study session between friends. They weren't doing anything wrong, even if she sometimes found herself looking over her shoulder as that feeling of dread followed her around. Those moments were always rare, few and far between, and Lucas would slide a pastry under her nose or ask her a question about what they were working on, dispelling any worries she had.

It was at Topanga's that Maya got the first hint that there was something going on around them—something that they were missing—but she explained it away because she didn't want to believe it.

Lucas had texted her as per their usual routine. 'I'm at Topanga's. Do you think you could talk your mom into slipping me a pastry on the house?'

It wasn't an invitation, or at least it didn't sound like an invitation to an outside observer. The same as Maya's response wasn't her agreement to meet him there. 'No Freebies, Ranger Rick. We talked about this.'

'That's alright. They're worth every penny,' Lucas wrote back. In a second text, he added, 'I'll just be here trying to keep the crumbs out of my textbook.'

If Maya showed up twenty minutes later to get a cup of her favorite tea, that was purely coincidence, but since she was there it was only polite to join her good friend Lucas at his usual table in the back. If he hadn't eaten the properly purchased pastry yet and chose to share it with her, it just meant he wasn't quite as hungry as he originally thought. And if she happened to have her math packet with her, then it was in her best interest to work on it while she was there, because there were several questions she just didn't understand and Lucas would be able to explain them to her in a way that would click for her. She would get her homework done and he would get unexpected company. It was a winning scenario for everyone involved.

So, that was how Maya ended up laughing at Lucas over the rim of her tea cup as he tried to reenact a word problem for her with sugar packets and balled up napkins. This would have been like any other evening spent between them at Topanga's, if it wasn't at that exact moment that one of their classmates happened by their table. The girl walked straight past them, stopped short and backed up until she was beside their table again. She glanced back and forth between the two of them, as she adjusted her glasses.

"Hey," Sarah said, with a strange little smile on her face.

"Hi," Maya replied. She let the word stretch out to give Sarah a chance to get to the point.

"Do you guys come here often?" Sarah asked.

"Riley's mom owns it and my mom runs it," Maya said, since it was self explanatory.

"It's kind of our place," Lucas added.

The strange smile widened. " _Your place_?"

"Yeah," Lucas frowned slightly. "We hang out here all the time."

"That's so cute," Sarah said.

Maya's brow crinkled. "Sure."

Sarah sort of nodded to herself, still smiling, "Well, I don't want to interrupt. I'll see you in class."

"See ya," Maya said as Sarah darted away. She turned back to Lucas. "That was weird, right?"

Lucas shrugged. "Everyone we know from school is a little weird."

Maya wobbled her head. "True."

"Should we get back to this?" Lucas asked, waving a hand at the disarray on the table.

"Sure," Maya said.

"Can you hand me another sugar packet?" Lucas asked.

Maya plucked another sweetener packet from the tabletop container and held it out to Lucas across the table. He took it from her palm into his, his hand hovered beneath hers, and his fingers slid gently across hers, lingering for a moment skin to skin. She pulled back her hand and tried to hide the heat rising in her cheeks behind her mug as she drank the last of her tea. Just like that, Sarah's appearance was forgotten entirely. It was as if she had never been there at all. Maya should have questioned it more at the time, but there were already too many things on her mind. First and foremost, what she was going to do about this Huckleberry problem of hers. Although, most of her brainpower in that matter was focused on actively ignoring the little nagging voice in the back of her head that was telling her exactly what she needed to do.

The longer Maya ignored that little voice, the bigger her problem grew—she just didn't know it yet.

The final straw was a Saturday night at the movie theater. As she looked back on it, Maya knew she could take no credit for this one, even though it was the one that would seal it. This was a twisted mess of bad timing, coincidences, or some strange sort of fate, but whatever the reason, there they were. It started as Riley's plan. They were all supposed to go out together to see a movie. At first, they were all on board, but that didn't last long. Zay backed out almost immediately after the movie was picked out. He had been holding out for the new action flick, and could only roll his eyes when he was vetoed in favor of a movie he claimed was more romantic than comedy.

"It's only got a thirty-eight percent on Rotten Tomatoes," Zay said. "I can't sit through that."

"That's fifteen percent better than your pick," Maya rolled her eyes.

"But the sheer mass of big screen explosions cancels out percentages," Zay replied, making exploding gestures with his hands and flailing arms. He looked over at Lucas and Farkle. "Don't you guys agree?"

Lucas shrugged.

"The statistical probability of the action heroes surviving their ordeals unscathed is about even with the likelihood of the romantic leads making complete emotional reversals in a ninety minute run time," Farkle explained. "So I'm indifferent."

"That's fine. You four have fun. I'll be at home with a James Bond marathon," Zay said.

One down, the other four planned their Saturday night excursion. Then the night before, Riley called Maya and the others to tell them that her grandparents had sprung a surprise visit on her and her parents. She was going to be busy for the entire weekend, which meant no movie night for her.

"We'll just plan to go next weekend," Maya said.

"We can't," Riley said. "Farkle has that thing for the debate team."

"Then another time then," Maya tried again.

"It's fine," Riley replied. "The three of you should still go. The only thing anyone has done together recently is study. You deserve a break."

"But this was your idea," Maya frowned. "We can't go without you."

"Sure you can," Riley insisted. "I really don't mind. My Aunt Morgan is coming over too. You know how long it's been since I've seen her. Pretty much the whole Matthews family will be in the same place at the same time. That's going to be more entertaining than any movie, I promise you. I'm not missing out."

"Okay," Maya reluctantly agreed. "If you say so."

Two down, they kept to their plan. Then, thirty minutes before their selected showtime, Maya and Lucas received a group message from Farkle telling them that something had come up with his parents and he wasn't going to make it. He wasn't forthcoming with details and they didn't press him.

So, three down, Maya and Lucas found themselves outside the movie theater—where they had been waiting for Farkle before his text—just the two of them. Their phones had gone off at the same time and after they had both read the message, they shared a quick look.

"Well, this is not how tonight was supposed to go," Lucas said as he slid his phone away again.

"Maybe we should have gone for the action movie," Maya shook her head. "That's where the trouble started."

Lucas ran a hand over his hair. "If you don't want to go anymore, we can—I don't know, we can leave, we can wait for a time when everyone can go."

Maya considered his offer. On one hand, it was ridiculous that their group outing had dwindled to just the two of them, but she didn't mind so much. On the other, all the other times she had been alone with Lucas it was in bright, fully lit, crowded spaces, not dark, somewhat private theaters, which was enough to make her a little nervous. Not that she had any real reason to be nervous about it—except that the last time she considered seeing a movie with Lucas alone had been as a joke, with the popcorn and potential hand touching, when she was nudging him toward Riley. _Riley_ , which was the real issue. Riley, who probably never considered that backing out of the movie would ever lead to Maya and Lucas seeing it alone with no Farkle or Zay buffer, just Maya and Lucas alone in the back of a dark, closely quartered theater. If Maya chose to not go to the movie, she could use their missing friends as an out—she wasn't backing out because of anything to do with seeing a movie just with Lucas. It was probably what Riley would want her to do. Or, she could go and see what happened. Even as Maya worried about her best friend's reaction, she found she was partial to one outcome over the other.

"We already bout our tickets," Maya said and shrugged her shoulders. "We're already here. We might as well go in."

"Are you sure?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Maya said. "Unless you're not man enough to go see a romantic comedy with just little ol' me. Is that it, Hop Along?"

Lucas chuckled and smiled widely. "I'm man enough."

"I'll see it when I believe it," Maya turned on her heel, whistling 'Mary Had a Little Lamb' lightly all the way into the theater.

They passed on concessions and went straight into the theater the ticket taker directed them to. Maya led Lucas to a row near the back, and they settled into two seats at the dead center. She had squashed down her nerves momentarily when she was amusing herself by flustering Lucas with her short tune, but now that they were sitting before the big screen, quiet as the lights started to dim, they crept back in. She spent the entire length of the previews debating if she should claim the armrest between them or let Lucas have it, or if she was comfortable trying to share it. She was just about settled on the best option when Lucas threw her a curve ball by folding up the armrest.

"I'm a little cramped," Lucas whispered to her over the opening credits. "I hope you don't mind."

Maya swallowed, "It's okay."

She shifted slightly toward the armrest on her other side and she leaned against it. The hand on the arm closest to Lucas pressed down onto the edge of the cushion of her seat, beside her leg. Maya hoped she didn't look as tense as she felt, and if she did, that it wasn't enough to clue in Lucas to it. She tried to focus on the movie, but midway through the opening scene she realized he had mirrored her arm placement because, as his hand rested on his seat, his pinky brushed against hers. Her breath caught as she wiggled her fingers to ease the tingling sensation the touch had inspired. It was an error on her part, because somehow, the motion only served to link his pinky over hers. She froze and chanced a sidelong glance over at him. He looked unfazed, his attention entirely on the movie playing in front of him. When she finally looked back at the screen, she was completely lost to who the characters were. She could hardly think over the weight of his finger over hers. It wasn't so much that it was there, but that she couldn't decide if it was too much or too little. She shifted her fingers again and let Lucas decide. A second of his fingers slid over hers, slipping into the spaces between hers. A little more encouragement from her and suddenly their hands were laced together. Maya released a slow breath and relaxed. They hadn't needed the popcorn after all.

Maya was so obsessed with the fact that Lucas had held her hand through the entire movie, without acknowledging it at all, in anyway, _and_ all the way out into the theater lobby, that she didn't see Darby and Yogi leaving the same theater after her and Lucas. But Darby and Yogi had seen them and they saw the exact thing that Maya was wound up by. She never saw them take the picture—the same as she never saw the other pictures being taken during those moments she thought belonged to only her and Lucas. She didn't know that any of those images existed, caught in a cell phone camera frame, even though they would eventually circulate around the school—somehow avoiding her circle of friends entirely, herself and Lucas especially.

Maya wouldn't see any of those pictures until the yearbook came out. And when she took the time to look back at all those moments piled together, building up bit by bit, she wondered how she had missed it.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Yes, you did get two chapters at once! This one contains some quotes straight from the original _Girl Meets Yearbook_ episode (the next one does as well), but they're mostly set up prior to my AU take on the episode to fit into the _That Girl Has Love_ arc. Let me know what you think. Enjoy! R &R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Five**

Maya saw if first and slammed her yearbook shut so fast and hard that it sent everyone else scrambling to find what had provoked her reaction.

It was supposed to be a normal day that fit right in with the status quo they had established over the past few weeks. She actually thought it might be one of those days on the better side of the spectrum. She hadn't overslept, which on most days was nothing short of a miracle. She was rewarded for her punctuality when she arrived at Lucas's locker and he skipped his usual greeting to pass her a still warm bagel. It was one of those little gestures that he had taken to making for her and she smiled at him around a mouthful of her much needed breakfast. How he seemed to know what she needed before she did was beyond her, but she knew better than to complain. To be honest, she had completely forgotten that yearbooks were supposed to be dispersed that day, even though Riley and Farkle had been chattering on about it in an endless loop for at least a week. But she had played the dutiful friend and gathered with the others outside Mr. Matthews' classroom to receive the thing. She was nowhere near as excited for the yearbook as Riley and Farkle—although it was hard to be as excited as Riley or Farkle over anything—but she perched herself on the ledge in the hallway and waited her turn to receive her yearbook anyway. Lucas sat on the bench beside her legs and she tapped her toes impatiently, nudging him with her knee so they could share a conspiratorial look of amusement as Riley and Farkle did their thing.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the hallway," Farkle said.

"It's yearbook time!" Riley finished, holding up a copy as evidence. She passed it to a girl passing by, "Hi, page forty-two."

"Hi, pages twenty-seven, thirty-four, and fifty-eight," Farkle rattled off as he handed off another yearbook to one of their classmates. "You're doing too much. You should calm down."

"Yearbooks!" Riley exclaimed once again as she and Farkle gave Maya and Lucas copies, took a copy each for themselves and left the box filled with the rest for people to collect from. "Find out who we are and what we really think about each other."

Maya crossed her legs, to give herself somewhere to prop her yearbook, and rocked her foot into Lucas's arm in rhythm with her tapping from earlier until he had to push her foot away. He rolled his eyes, but smiled that smile up at her anyway. She nudged him with her toe one last time and flipped the yearbook open to a random page.

"You wanna know what I think about you..." Maya trailed off as she looked down at the page she had flipped to. Her back went stiff, her eyes widened, and she slammed her yearbook shut again.

Three frowning faces turned toward her, before they each started to shuffle through pages of superlatives to find what she had found. Maya's knuckles turned white as she gripped her yearbook in both fists. If she couldn't see it, it wasn't real. She had been mistaken. It was a misprint. This was a very vivid nightmare and she was lucky that her subconscious hadn't imagined her in her underwear.

Lucas saw it next and, as soon as he landed on the page, he started to laugh.

"It's not funny, Huckleberry," Maya hissed.

"Oh," Farkle said when he found it. There wasn't much surprise in his tone, which was either a result of him being Farkle or he had lost his mind along with everyone else.

"What is it?" Riley was still frowning as she continued to flick through pages. "I can't find it. What is it?"

Farkle tilted his open yearbook toward Riley so she could see. "Maya and Lucas were voted favorite couple."

Riley's yearbook slipped from her fingers and clattered closed on the floor.

Maya gulped.

"Come on, guys. The people who voted on these things are ridiculous. I mean, Farkle is 'Most Likely to Be Farkle' and Riley is 'Most Likely to Smile Herself to Death'? Who comes up with this stuff?" Lucas shook his head as he paged through the rest of the categories. "You can't pay it any mind."

"How are you okay with this?" Maya questioned as she resisted the urge to really kick him.

Lucas turned to his superlative page and held it right up to her face so she could read the label of 'Most Likely to be Okay with Anything that Ever Happens.' He raised an eyebrow and Maya rolled her eyes. It was typical that she would be self imploding and he had a get out of jail free card all wrapped up in a little bow. She needed help, but he was being the opposite of that, which was not a good thing given that, even though Maya was trying not to look in that direction, she was pretty sure Riley was in full blown freak out mode. Since her best friend hadn't uttered a word since Farkle showed her the page, Maya could only assume Riley was frozen in shock while her head battled a slew of worst case and end of the world scenarios. To fix that, she needed Lucas to do more than scoff and say it wasn't a big deal. She needed him to deny it so vehemently that it alleviated all of Riley's worries. Why did Lucas not realize what Maya needed now, of all times, when this time she needed this more than hardly anything else she had ever needed? Apparently, the glare she aimed at the back of his head was not hint enough.

"Come on, Maya," Lucas said. "It means nothing. It's people's overactive imaginations and wishful thinking. If we were a real couple, we would never have won this."

" _You wish_ we were a real couple," Maya said, because she had obviously lost control of her mouth in her desperation. "Cause we would smoke all those other suckers every time."

It was meant to be a joke, but there was something about the way she said it that made it fall flat. Lucas twisted around to look at her straight on, one eyebrow raised. Maya opened her mouth to say _something_ , anything really, to try to recover from that blunder, but she was only able to emit a small strangled sound before Riley recovered _her voice_ and interrupted.

"Maya, bay window, now," Riley said.

"No can do, sweets," Maya took her first real look at her best friend. Riley's brow was furrowed, her face betraying her confusion and desperation—it was similar to the feelings stirring in Maya's stomach, although hers were there for an entirely different reason.

"The girls' bathroom then," Riley said.

"Sure," Maya agreed. As she slid down from her seat. Lucas met her eyes and surreptitiously touched his hand to hers, his fingers just barely skimming along hers, and she got her footing. She spoke under her breath to him as she turned, "It's fine."

Riley stooped over to retrieve her fallen yearbook. Once she had it, she tucked it under her arm and headed for the nearest girls' room. Maya followed after her obediently. She tried not to make a big deal out of it, tried to tell herself that everything was going to be just peachy, even though she felt like there should be a funeral march playing over their exit.

"It's not real," Maya said as soon as the door to the bathroom swung closed behind them.

Riley flipped her yearbook open, turning to the page for favorite couple She held the yearbook spread open with both hands and turned it to Maya. "These pictures look real to me."

Maya tried to avert her eyes, but this was the first time she had actually looked closely at the pictures organized under the bold header of Favorite Couple and her and Lucas's names. Her stomach clenched as she let her eyes travel over each picture. Their heads bowed together by Lucas's locker, faces close and eyes locked on each others in the first one. Lucas turned into her in the cafeteria, arm basically around her shoulders, with his mouth a breath away from her ear in the second. His hand over hers across the table at Topanga's was the focus of the third. Then, there was the headliner, the largest of the four, which featured a view of Maya and Lucas from behind as they left the movie theater with their hands clasped tightly together.

Maya swallowed thickly. "Those pictures are taken entirely out of context."

"You're holding his hand," Riley said.

"I'm handing him a sugar packet in this one," Maya pointed out.

"And here?" Riley tapped the movie theater picture.

Maya pinched her lips together, trying to come up with some excuse for it, but she still had no words to make herself understand what had happened there, let alone to justify it to her best friend. "I can't explain that one, but I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty that Lucas and I are not a couple."

"It looks like you're on a date."

"We're not," Maya said. "The only reason it's even just the two of us is because Zay backed out and you and Farkle canceled on us."

"Well," Riley closed the yearbook and hugged it to her chest. "If you're not a couple, then why do people think you are?"

"I don't know, jellybean," Maya sighed.

"If they're just making it up, why don't they think that Lucas and _I_ are a couple?" Riley asked. "They used to."

"I don't know that either," Maya said.

"We're so much alike," Riley said.

"I know."

"And you're so different."

"I know," Maya nodded. "Maybe that's why people want there to be something there. I can't tell you what other people think, I can only speak for myself."

"Speaking for yourself then," Riley took a deep breath and asked, 'Do you _want_ you and Lucas to be a couple?"

Maya wasn't quite sure what it was that she wanted exactly, but she also didn't want to lie to her best friend. All of those little moments of her and Lucas that had been caught on camera were memories that she kept close to her heart. She wouldn't give them up for anything, but did that mean she wanted more? Would she even be willing to risk everything if she did? She had no certain answers to any of her own questions, let alone Riley's, but she wouldn't chance lying to her best friend, so she didn't answer at all. Instead, she posed an equally important question to Riley in place of a response.

"Do _you_ want you and Lucas to be a couple?" Maya asked.

Apparently, Riley didn't have an answer either.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Another day, another chapter. Again, I've got quotes directly from the canon _Yearbook_ episode, but I kind of blended Cory's two different lectures and some of the responses from the students into one, because while some points he made were important, this version of the experience doesn't quite call for the same lesson (also, it was easier than coming up with a brand new Cory style lesson). Still more chapters to come. On another note, I haven't gotten around to replying to all the reviews for the most recent chapters, but to everyone who left one, thank you so much for taking the time to leave a quick note (especially to the guest reviewers who I can't reply to at all). I really appreciate hearing what you all think. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Six**

Maya and Riley left the bathroom wisthout either of their questions answered. The two of them weren't the only ones who had chosen silence as the appropriate course of action. In the wake of the yearbook fiasco, they all seemed to know that they were better off not talking about it. And since they couldn't talk about it, they seemed to have trouble finding anything else to talk about, so they ended up not talking to each other at all. Maya and Riley were the last ones to come into the history classroom, just shy of the late bell, and the rest of their classmates, Lucas and Farkle included, were already in their seats. The moment the two girls entered, the air in the room shifted—charged with the invisible tension spun between them and their friends. Maya kept her head down and slid into her desk. For a moment, she could feel Lucas's eyes boring into the back of her neck. She squeezed her eyes shut until the sensation went away—either because he had stopped staring or she had tricked herself into ignoring it. Either way, her heightened awareness of him was another problem she needed to access.

Mr. Matthews seemed to sense that something was off as soon as he walked in, because he stopped in his tracks and almost stumbled a step right back out. He got a hold of himself though, and made it all the way to his desk this time. He turned to his class and took in the face of each of his students, except for the four directly in front of him, because they each had their heads bowed. Breathing out a sigh, he crossed his arms over his chest and steeled himself for the rough class period he had before him. Maya hoped whatever he had to say would make sense of everything. It always appeared like Cory had something up his sleeve, some hidden gem of wisdom mined from experience or borrowed from the great teacher of his youth. Still, Maya felt like maybe this was one they were going to have to figure out on their own and maybe they would be better off if they did. Even if that was the case, it wasn't going to stop Cory from trying—oh, he was going to try his little heart out.

"Is this about the yearbooks?" Cory asked. He got no response, but seemed to know the answer anyway. "Alright, I see what's going on here."

He launched into an uninterrupted lecture about Iceland and Greenland that was a thinly veiled pep talk about labels and how to deal with the things people said about you that might not be entirely true or not true at all. He rambled on, answering his own questions when no one else would, because his four most verbal and active students were staring at their desks in silence.

"The Vikings discovered this beautiful green country, and they didn't want anyone else taking their new country, so they decided to name it Iceland. Everyone figures it must be cold. Nobody wants to go there. They made everybody think of it in that way, even though it wasn't true," Cory explained. He paused to see if anyone would say something, but, when no one did, he continued, "Then another Viking comes along, Erik the Red, and he discovers a land of snow and ice. And he wants everyone to go there instead, so he names that Greenland, and everyone goes there. The jerks!" He stopped again to see if anyone would speak up, but no one took the bait. "The perception of a thing doesn't make it so. People are always gonna say stuff. How you react to what they say is what makes you the person you are."

Maya bit the inside of her cheek and wrung her hands under the table, doing anything to keep from fidgeting too obviously in her seat. She wanted to say something, partially because Mr. Matthews looked so awkward trying to fill in all the conclusions he wanted them to come to on their own, but she realized that he probably assumed their current moods were about the not so nice individual categories the others had found themselves in and she didn't want the whole "Favorite Couple" thing becoming a matter of public debate—because that would only hurt Riley more—especially since at least some of their classmates had a hand in their win. So, Maya wrestled with herself and the words on the tip of her tongue until, ultimately, she chose to stay quiet.

"None of you have anything to say?" Cory asked. He took a couple steps toward the front row of desks. "Not even you, Farkle?"

Without looking up, Farkle shook his head no.

"Nothin', huh?" Cory sucked in his lips, frowning, and then sighed. He stood in front of his daughter's desk. "Should I be worried, Riley?"

Maya risked a glance over at her best friend.

Riley looked up at her father, finally. "You're saying that the best thing to do in these situations is to not react, to not feel differently because of something someone says."

"Yeah, exactly," Cory nodded.

"What if you can't help it?" Riley asked with her brow furrowed and a slight pout on her lips.

Maya wanted to cry as she took in that expression on Riley's face, knowing that she was part of the reason it was there.

"If you can't help it, then the best thing you can do is the next best thing...consider everything you know, don't let one thing cloud your judgment and blind you to everything else." Cory looked back out at the whole class. "You know what happened after everybody went to Greenland because someone told them to? They came to an inhospitable, uninhabited ice ball named Greenland because someone said it was pretty and the firs thing they did was die. The jerks! So please remember, you shouldn't pay attention to what everybody says. Because, if you listen to everyone else, you might end up crashing your little ships onto the rocks." He swung his gaze around the room one more time before he took the lesson home. "Ice. Green. They're each one word. One word, which made some people miss out on a lush paradise. One word, which sent some to their doom. _One word_ that made some people think everything else was irrelevant. Everything else _is not irrelevant_. You get tunnel vision and you don't know what you're missing. Great potential may lie in the harbors you sail past because you have tunnel vision."

Part of Maya might have thought that something their teacher had to say would fix things. It was a foolish kind of hope that she latched onto in desperation. Deep down, she knew there was no band-aid to stitch up this situation. There was no quick fix. They would have to deal with this the hard way. It wasn't going to be fun or pleasant, but they would have to grit their teeth through it, grab the bull by the horns, confront it head on. Because, she wasn't going to lose her best friend and she was pretty sure she wasn't going to give up whatever was growing between her and Lucas either. The connection she had with him since their night of spying was just as important to her, even if she didn't know where it was going.

When the class period ended, Mr. Matthews reluctantly dismissed them, knowing that his lesson might have helped, but that the problem, whatever it was, still wasn't solved. As soon as she had permission, Riley left her desk and slipped out the door. Maya almost tripped over her own ankles as she scrambled to get out of her seat and follow Riley. Maya recovered her balance and chased her friend out into the hallway.

"Riley, wait!" Maya called out to Riley's back.

"Not now, Maya," Riley replied without turning, continuing to walk away.

Maya stopped following, and found herself flanked by Lucas and Farkle. She sighed and ran a hand over her face. "Farkle, can you—?"

She barely got half of her question out before Farkle was already setting off down the hall after Riley. "Yeah, I got her."

With Farkle checking on Riley, that left Maya alone with Lucas as the rest of their classmates started to clear the hall as they sought out their next class. She kept her hands over her face and tried not to look at him. A groan edged its way through her lips, muffled by her hands, and, then, Lucas wasn't just standing next to her, he was touching her shoulder gently. It was meant to be comforting, in tandem to his continued silence, but the first thing that came to her mind as his hand made itself comfortable on her shoulder was that it was small gestures, like that, that put them in the position they were in now and it probably wasn't the best time for it. But then the fingers started to work into the tense muscle there and she relaxed into a sigh. There was no denying that it felt good and that it was probably just what she needed.

"It's gonna be alright," Lucas said. "You just have to give her time to get used to the idea."

Maya frowned and shrugged out from under his hand. "The idea of what? That we're a couple? We're not a couple, Huckleberry."

"I know that," Lucas rolled his eyes. "She needs to get used to the idea that not everything is always going to be the way she thinks it will be."

"She deserves to have everything turn out the way she wants it to," Maya said. "I want that for her."

"You deserve that too," Lucas said, "and _I_ want that for _you_."

"And what if we can't have it both ways?" Maya asked.

Lucas licked at his lips before pressing them tight together and dropping his gaze.

Maya nodded. "See? You don't have the answer either."

"I wish I had an answer for you," Lucas said.

"I wish that was enough," Maya replied.

…

Riley gave them all the silent treatment, even Farkle for how little he had to do with the situation, for the rest of the day. Maya couldn't tell if this was Riley's attempt to not react as her father advised or a half hearted start to her reaction. Maya was hoping for the former, but if it was the latter, there was no way to predict where it would go from there. Either way, it was unsettling to not have their ball of sunshine and rainbows acting as such. Even though Maya had spent much of the past few weeks focused elsewhere, it was something of a comfort to know that Riley was off somewhere yammering about puppies and bunnies or whatever other trademark of cuteness she was fascinated with that second. Maya did not like being confronted face to face with the darker side of her best friend that, up until that moment, she had been certain didn't exist.

When she got home later that day, Maya wanted to throw her yearbook across the room for all the trouble it had caused her, but she couldn't. She had half a mind to abandon the yearbook, and march straight over to the Matthews' and use their ring power to force Riley to talk to her; the thing that stopped her was that Lucas was right. They needed to let Riley have the time and space she needed to figure things out for herself and possibly learn to adapt to the changing times. Though it pained her just a little bit to give the cowboy credit, his words had probably saved her from making things exponentially worse. For the time being, it was just her and the blasted yearbook that taunted her as she contemplated taking a match to it. This was beginning to be a problem. Now that she was alone, in the privacy of her apartment, she was gripped by a morbid curiosity. So, instead of tearing out pages to play trash can basketball or burying it at the bottom of her dirty clothes hamper where it would never see the light of day again, she sat down at her table and opened it to the page for Favorite Couple. It was her chance to really digest what people thought about her and Lucas.

Maya was amazed that the photos being taken slipped her notice. Four separate occasions, when she was too caught up in her companion, had led to these images, which would be preserved in the memories of their entire school. The sad fact was that her obliviousness was probably one of the reasons people had seen these moments as evidence of their relationship status. She ran her finger over their joined hands in the last picture. She had had no words for Riley about that one, and she still didn't, but as she tortured herself with looking at it now, she could see why people drew the assumption they had about her and Lucas. Friends could hold hands, sure, but she could feel the way she felt in that moment just by looking at the picture. Perhaps everyone else could tell how she felt too. If they could, then she could understand how they had won Favorite Couple as two people who were decidedly not an official couple. Maybe she understood why, but she was still amazed that the page went to print without any of them knowing, especially when Riley and Farkle were the editors.

There were probably about five more minutes before her eyes glazed over from staring at one spot for too long, when her phone rang. Maya blinked liberally as she tried to focus on the high gloss page of her yearbook. For a second, she thought it might be Riley, but when had she ever been so lucky? She checked the caller ID to see that it was not her best friend trying to reach her. It was Lucas.

Maya made sure to wait until she had answered the call before she released her sigh right into it. "I'm sorry, but I just don't have any room on my dance card for you, Hop Along."

"You're looking at it, aren't you?" Lucas asked, apparently spying on her or just able to read her nuances in tone with scary accuracy.

"And if I am?" Maya said.

"Then you're seeing the same thing I am."

"Which is?"

"That maybe they had a point," Lucas said.

Maya sucked in a sharp breath. "You said it was people's overactive imaginations."

"Yeah, well, _you_ also had a point when you said we'd 'smoke' everyone else if we were a couple," Lucas said.

"That was a joke."

'There's a grain of truth in every joke," Lucas countered. There was silence on the line for a beat, then he added, "I would have voted for us."

"Then you're as delusional as the rest of them," Maya said, though there was no bite to her words.

"Do you know what I like about all of these pictures?" Lucas asked.

"That you're in all of them?" Maya replied and she could almost hear him rolling his eyes and smiling that smile at nothing.

"No, I like that there's not a single one where you don't look happy," Lucas said. "That's all I want for you, Maya. So, you tell me, what will make you happy?"

"I don't think I know yet," Maya said.

"Fair enough," Lucas said.

"I might have to skip our morning round up tomorrow," Maya took one last look at the yearbook before she closed it up. Staring at it was not going to help her any when it came to figuring things out for herself.

"I understand. Do what you have to do," Lucas said. "I'll miss having your smile be the first thing I see in the morning, but I'll see you in class, okay?"

Lucas waited for her incoherent sound of affirmation before he hung up.

Maya waited until the line was dead to speak her response, " _Same here_."

...

 **A/N2:** Entirely unrelated to the story, with this chapter I officially surpassed **ONE MILLION WORDS** archived on this site! I want to do something to celebrate (because I mean that's a lot of words, and it feels like a kind of big deal), but I don't know what? Any suggestions?


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** So, I'm trying to work with how Riley feels in this chapter. I didn't exactly like that the show went with her lying about her feelings, not because it seems out of character (it works, I guess. I just didn't personally like it. I think it could have been handled without the dishonesty). The thing I do like about where the show has taken the characters is that notion that they're young and, maybe, none of them _really_ understand how and what they're feeling. These versions of them might be a little ahead of the game for where this fits into the canon time line (the day-ish after _Yearbook_ and, obviously before _Semi-Formal_ ), but they're still working things out. I'm not sure how I feel about Riley and Charlie (do they have a preferred ship name? I wouldn't know) as a couple in general, but I think it works for this story. Since the events of _That Girl Has Love_ , Riley has had some distance from Lucas as an "option" (since he's been preoccupied by Maya) and that distance allowed Charlie to kind of slide in and start to establish himself as one much sooner than he had in the actual show. All the more reason their feelings would be confusing. That was all too long and probably unnecessary, but sometimes I like to get my thought process out there. Anyway, on with the chapter. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Seven**

Maya's feet wanted to lead her straight to Lucas at his locker, but she forced herself to turn toward her own locker where she would find Riley. Although they weren't exactly fighting, at least not yet, Maya felt apprehensive as she approached her best friend. This could go so many way and, since they hadn't spoken since school the previous day, she had no clue as to which way it would. She took one last deep breath and slid into place beside Riley. She busied herself with switching items from her bag to her locker and waited for Riley to speak first.

Riley turned toward Maya as she closed her locker. "We need to talk."

Maya closed her locker and faced Riley. "I agree."

"Okay," Riley said.

"Here?" Maya looked around at the moderately crowded hallway. She hoped there would be nothing to attract the others' attention, but if they _did_ make a scene they would have an audience.

"Yes. It's fine, Maya," Riley nodded. Her chest lifted as she breathed in deep.

"Okay, sweets. Lay it on me," Maya said, internally bracing herself for whatever came next.

"I still like Lucas," Riley frowned. "At least, I think I do. I'm pretty sure I do. And there's this knot in my stomach because I think you like him too. Or you could if you let yourself, which you won't because you know I like him."

Maya gulped. "I'm with you so far."

It made Maya's stomach clench to hear Riley say that she still liked Lucas. It wasn't that she didn't already know that, but it was different to hear it out loud. When it was an unspoken thing, it was a little easier to pretend that it wasn't the truth. That it wasn't something that could end up twisting up Maya's insides. It almost overshadowed the second half of what Riley said, regarding Maya. It took a little longer for that part to sink in. By the time Maya had processed the fact that Riley knew she potentially liked Lucas too, and further fear of her reaction crept in, Riley was already talking again. She didn't even have a chance to deny it, although there really was no use in doing that. Riley had always been better at figuring out how Maya felt than Maya herself. She would know it was a lie, and now Maya knew it would be a lie as well. She liked Lucas. There was no going back now.

"The truth is," Riley said, "I don't know how I feel. I just know that it's very different than how I felt yesterday, but that's life, right? You can't stop things from changing. You can only control how you react to it."

Maya nodded. She didn't know where Riley was going to take this train of though, but she hoped it was somewhere brighter than where she imagined.

"So, in an effort to react with dignity," Riley breathed out slowly and met Maya's gaze directly. "I don't want this to be an issue. You, me, Lucas—we're all still figuring things out. We don't know how it will turn out, so there's no use in pretending that we can predict the future with any kind of permanent accuracy."

"What you're saying is…?" Maya trailed off and let Riley fill in the blanks for clarification.

"What I'm saying is, right now, we're all friends. That's all that matters. That's the thing I don't want to ever change."

"Okay, jellybean, I can make sure that happens," Maya said. This was still a problem, but for the time being it was manageable. Riley wasn't turning on her, that was what counted for the moment.

"But—"

Then there was a but. Of course there was a but. There was always a but. Maya's stomach dropped again as she winced at the word. How often did something awful follow that word? She would bet that it was significantly frequent.

"—if things do change, we need to be honest about it," Riley finished. She clutched her notebooks to her chest as she crossed her arms around them. "Because, after some time to think about it, I realized the thing that bothered me most about the yearbook wasn't that people thought you and Lucas were a couple. It was that, I looked at those pictures, saw the memories they represented, and I wasn't a part of those moments in your life. I'm your best friend, and if it was any other boy, you would have included me. You would have told me everything about what was happening between you and him. You would have _wanted_ to. Instead, you kept it from me."

"Because it's Lucas," Maya said softly. "And I don't have the words to describe what's happening between us."

"Find them," Riley replied, "because I don't want you hiding things from me anymore. That's not what best friends do. We tell each other all of our secrets, even the ones that are going to hurt."

Maya nodded. "Okay. From now on, I'll tell you everything. I promise."

"Good," Riley smiled and nodded once. "Because I sat in the Bay Window by myself yesterday and it's very quiet without you."

"You'll never have to do that again, I swear," Maya let herself smile too, even though her stomach was still a little uneasy. Everything was still up in the air. She had to wait for it all to find the ground before they could really be okay.

"We should get to class," Riley said after a moment. She offered her arm to Maya.

Maya linked her arm with Riley and they started down the hall to their first class. As they turned, Maya caught a quick glimpse, out of the corner of her eye, of someone watching them from behind his locker door. To be more accurate, someone was watching _Riley_ from behind his locker door. She waited until they were out of earshot of their spectator to broach that subject.

"Since you've requested full disclosure," Maya said, pacing her words as she and Riley strolled together down the hall. "Are you going to share with me what's going on between you and Charlie Gardner?"

Maya had only ever seen Riley blush this deeply when confronted with Lucas in the early days of knowing him. It said more than any of the words that came out of Riley's mouth afterward. It was things like this that were the reason that Riley knew how Maya felt before she knew herself. Riley could see things Maya couldn't see, because she observed from a different angle. Now, it was Maya's turn to see things that Riley couldn't see for herself, but she was going to keep it to herself for the time being.

"Charlie is, he's, uh," Riley swallowed thickly. "He's been keeping me company in the morning, when you're not there. He's becoming a good friend."

"He was staring at you just now," Maya said.

Riley instantly tossed a look over her shoulder, as if to check even though they had left Charlie and his locker long behind them. "He was not."

Maya laughed lightly. "Oh, he so was."

Riley drew her gaze back forward, falling on something down the hall in front of them. She angled her face away from it and glanced over at Maya's instead. Through a pinched smile, she said, "You've got someone staring as well."

Maya frowned at Riley, but turned to search the hallway anyway. Her eyes widened slightly as she found the source of said stare. She held her breath as she waited for Riley's reaction. In the meantime, she avoided looking in the direction of her observer, even as they quickly approached him.

A few feet away, Riley pulled her arm from Maya's and gave her friend a small push. "Go talk to him."

"But, Riley," Maya searched Riley's face for any sign that she didn't mean what she said. She found nothing contradictory, but she was still worried that it was a trap.

"Maya, it's okay," Riley said. "He obviously wants to talk to you. So, talk to him."

"I shouldn't," Maya shook her head. "We should go into our class, right now, together. He won't mind. He'll get over it."

"I'm not going to stop you from talking to Lucas, or seeing Lucas, or _whatever_ with Lucas," Riley said. "You wouldn't let me stop you, even if I tried. So, don't use me as an excuse. Go talk to him. I'll be fine."

Maya hesitated, bobbing on her toes, her body in conflict as her head waged a debate with itself. She whined softly in the back of her throat, uncertain.

Riley sighed and pointed stiffly down the hall as she practically shouted, "Go."

"Fine, I'm going," Maya grumbled and set off down the hall without Riley. She didn't stop until she was right in front of Lucas where he waited by the door to their class. He hadn't taken his eyes off of her, and when she looked up it was right into his eyes. "Hey."

"Hey," Lucas replied.

"How has your morning been?" Maya asked. She felt silly making small talk, but she didn't know how to transition into anything more serious with Riley watching.

"Better now," Lucas answered.

"Hmm," Maya grew shy at the sentiment.

"How did it go," Lucas finally looked away from her to spot their other friend a few feet away, "with Riley?"

"Not as badly as I expected," Maya said. "I came prepared for tears or blind rage, and instead I got a surprisingly composed and reasonable Riley."

"What did she say?"

"She still likes you," Maya said.

Lucas ducked his head. "I thought so."

"I knew so," Maya said, "but she's confused too. She believes we all deserve a chance to figure out exactly how we feel and what we want."

"And if we already have?" Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Slow down there, Cowboy," Maya replied. "Let's just take our time and count our blessings that Riley hasn't ditched us both already. The yearbook stirred up enough trouble. We don't need to add to it before the dust even settles."

Lucas nodded. "All you had to say was that you haven't. I already told you what I want for you."

"I know," Maya said as she worried her lip. She didn't want Lucas to say anymore, because if he did she might not be able to contain her reaction. It had already been a highly emotional morning and she was wound too tight to rely on her self control. "We just need to—"

"Give it time," Lucas said. "I understand."

"Good," Maya breathed. "It's for the best."

"Sure," Lucas said.

Maya nodded her head until the wobbling started to make her dizzy. She assumed that would be the end of the conversation and started to turn toward the classroom. Lucas's hand shot out to gently grasp her by the elbow, stopping her from walking away.

"Just one question," Lucas said and Maya nodded one last time to give him permission to ask it. "Am I going to be missing you every morning while we're 'giving it time?'"

It probably would have been better for the situation if she told him yes, if she stopped meeting him by his locker or at Topanga's or anywhere, until everything had calmed down. But Maya couldn't do it. She couldn't deny herself all those special bright spots in her life. Maybe it was selfish and she certainly felt that twinge of guilt that she couldn't do it for Riley, but the thought of not having those moments with Lucas, as simple as they were, made her feel sick. Even if everything else was unclear, Maya knew that Lucas was a vital part of her life. She needed him in it, in some capacity, in any capacity. She couldn't face the day without him anymore. It was scary to be that dependent on another person, especially when she swore to herself that the only person she would ever grow that attached to was Riley, but it was too late to stop it. It was already done. Maybe she knew more about how she felt than she cared to admit—no one needed to know that.

"Nothing has to change," Maya said. "No matter what, we're all friends. That hasn't changed, so we don't have to either."

"Then I'll be just fine," Lucas smiled down at her.

Maya wanted to melt at the sight. The only thing that stopped her from doing so was the fact that she caught sight of Riley in her peripheral vision as her friend slipped into class. She took a deep breath and smiled her own smile up at Lucas. They were all going to be just fine, she would make sure of it, _somehow_.

"So will I," Maya said.

Lucas gestured for Maya to lead the way into the classroom and he fell into step beside her as they passed through the door. Once inside the classroom, every single pair of eyes fell on them, including Riley's. Maya's heart pounded against her ribcage as she found her way to her seat. She could see the gears working in all the little heads around her. Now she could see what they saw, and it wasn't a bad view. Still, she missed the ease of the days when she could be around Lucas without a pair of eyes tracking their every move, reading into everything. That was what she wanted, Lucas, simple and easy. But she couldn't have simple and she couldn't have easy, so she wasn't sure she should hold out hope for the last thing left on that list.

 **A/N2:** And, I might not have mentioned it before, but I track what I updates I have coming soon on my profile (complete with status notes: in progress, written, typed, ready to post, etc). So if you're wondering if or when something might be coming, check out my profile for more info. As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know what you think! Thanks! ~Mac


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** This chapter was both difficult and fun to write. Shawn has always been one of my favorite characters, which is why I enjoy bringing in Shawn x Katy into the mix in this story. So it's totally fun to work with him in this chapter, but also a little stressful because I don't know if I'm getting him right and in character. I guess we'll see. I also enjoy father figure Shawn for Maya. It's big in this chapter and there's some moments in upcoming and planned chapters that I'm really liking. So, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Eight**

Even though everyone was acting like everything was normal, there was still a tension beneath the surface that Maya continued to grapple with. She wasn't the only one that felt it either. Lucas held himself a little straighter when he stood or sat next to her, careful not to incline too much toward her as he had in every picture that made their yearbook page. It was supposed to be in consideration of Riley, maintaining that little margin of distance, not that she noticed. Riley had spent the rest of the day talking to them like she did on the average day, for all intents and purposes her usual bubbly self, except that she wouldn't look at them. She instead focused on points just enough off center from their faces that it almost wasn't noticeable. Except, Maya noticed, because she knew her best friend and because when she dipped her head into Riley's skewed line of sight, Riley bobbed her head to find a new focal point over Maya's other shoulder. Farkle sensed it too. She could see him scrutinizing all three of them with laser precision. He was, at least, smart enough to keep his findings to himself. It was all a little too much for Maya, but she told herself to just breathe and give it time. That was the only way she'd survive the day.

Maya was so thankful to be home after school that she barely registered anything upon her entrance, except the couch that she intended to sprawl out on. She had kicked the door closed behind her, dumped her things on the ground, and all but threw herself onto the couch. She assumed she had the apartment to herself, since her mom had a shift at Topanga's that was supposed to last into the evening, so she didn't restrain the growl like groan that erupted from her as she laid herself out and kicked her feet up on the arm of the couch. She should have been more aware of her surroundings. She was slipping—first it was all her classmates and their cellphone cameras, and now this.

"Rough day, kiddo?"

Maya squeaked as she jerked in surprise. She released a sharp breath and tilted her head back to see Shawn exiting her kitchen and coming to stand over the side of the couch that her head rested upon. He smiled down at her and shoved his hands into his pockets. Maya swallowed thickly as she slowed her breathing and recovered from the shock of being very much _not_ alone in the apartment.

"Shawn," Maya said. "I didn't know you were in town."

"Surprise," Shawn shrugged.

"No kidding," Maya mumbled. She scrambled up into a sitting position so Shawn could join her on the couch. "What are you doing _here,_ though? Who let you in?"

"Topanga gave Katy the evening off so I could take her out to dinner and a movie. She's getting ready," Shawn nodded his head in the direction of her mom's room. "I'm only here until tomorrow morning, then I'm off again." He frowned a little, creases forming along his brow. "You look a little down. Anything I can help with?"

Shawn's concern reminded Maya of her troubles, the ones that had made her announce her arrival home in a very loud and obnoxious manner. They were troubles she wasn't sure she should share with Shawn. Then again, who else was she going to talk about it with? Everyone she normally shared her problems with were part of the current problem and therefore biased and unhelpful. Shawn couldn't be any worse than that.

"You see, I'd ask you for advice," Maya started, looking at her hands in her lap and not at Shawn, "but I take it that since your best friend is Cory of _Cory and Topanga_ , you've never liked the same person as your best friend."

Shawn choked on his tongue and cleared his throat, unprepared for this subject matter, but he recovered with as much grace as possible after that display.

"Well, no, Cory has always had eyes for Topanga, even when he didn't know it, even when he thought he didn't, but," Shawn rubbed a hand over his chin, smiled and chuckled to himself, "there was this one time Cory was convinced Topanga and I were harboring secret feelings for each other and made us go on a date, but, uh, yeah, that's probably not what you're looking for as a comparable experience."

Maya shook her head, "But, some other time, I would _love_ to hear that story."

"So," Shawn said after a beat, "this is about the cowboy?"

Maya nodded.

"The one that was with you when you were spying on your mom and me?" Shawn asked.

Maya nodded again without really thinking about it, then her eyes grew wide as her head shot up to look at Shawn. She stuttered out, "You knew?"

Shawn raised up his hands in presentation of himself. "Look who you're talking to here. I made you while we were still at Topanga's. And you know what, kid? I knew you would be there, because it's what I would have done."

"Does my mom—?"

"It's our little secret," Shawn assured. "Only because I know how much it meant to you. You get one free pass. The next time I catch you doing something you're not supposed to be doing I'm going to have to tell your mom. Otherwise she'll have both of our heads and I happen to like my head exactly where it is."

"I understand," Maya said. "It was a one time thing. It was important."

"Important enough that you were willing to enlist the boy to join you?" Shawn asked. "That says something doesn't it? You don't have to answer that. You know it does. So this has been going on since that night?"

"You could say that," Maya replied, "but I think, now, that it's something that it was going to come to inevitably; that night I made the choice to let it happen."

"Then you know how you want it to go," Shawn said. Maya noted the lack of question mark in his statement.

"No, I don't," Maya stammered. "I'm so confused about all of this—I can't—"

Shawn raised an eyebrow and stared her down until she conceded.

"But Riley—" Maya said.

"If you and Riley are anything like me and Cory, and I suspect you are—you might even be better than us—you'll work it out. This won't come between you," Shawn said. "You won't let it."

Maya took a deep breath and nodded.

"Was that helpful?" Shawn asked after they had sat in silence for a couple minutes. "You have to tell me how I'm doing. I wouldn't know. I've never done this before."

"You did great, Shawn," Maya smiled and patted him fondly on the shoulder.

Shawn reached over and ruffled Maya's hair. She ducked out of his reach laughing as he mussed her hair. "Is this the time where I ask you if you've got homework and remind you to brush your teeth or something like that?"

"You're welcome to try," Maya said. "I have the utmost respect for authority."

Shawn shakes his head. "Who falls for that?"

"Mr. Matthews," Maya said. "On a daily basis. It's kind of our thing. I promise him things like I'm not going to fall asleep in class or I'll have my homework in on time or I'll pay attention to his lesson and not doodle silly pictures in my textbook margins, but odds are I'm catching z's, _decorating_ school property and slipping him IOUs for assignments," She tilted her head and frowned slightly. "He still manages to teach me things thought. I'm not sure how he does it."

"Sounds like Cory," Shawn said.

Any further conversation about Maya's state of being was postponed as Katy floated out of her room, date ready. Shawn was on his feet and in front of Katy before Maya could so much as blink. There were matching grins on both of their faces. Maya twisted around to watch them with her arms and chin resting on the back of the couch. There was something familiar about the way her mom looked up at Shawn with shy interest and he leaned in to reduce the distance between them. They were like a couple of teenagers, dancing around each other, and there was something remarkable that they were able to experience that kind of joyful infatuation after everything they had been through. Maya wanted that in her life, but she was far too scared to admit that she was halfway there.

"You look amazing," Shawn said.

"Why thank you," Katy dipped slightly in a nod to a curtsy. "It was the best I could do with such short notice."

"You look _amazing_ ," Shawn repeated.

Katy blushed and Maya smiled. She had to restrain the urge to say "nice job, Shawn" out loud, but she thought it right on cue. She could imagine how the compliment made her mom feel—not just the words, but the way they were said, with such conviction and passion that there was no way to discount them or disagree with them. Maya understood how words like that could pool lie warm sunlight in a person's chest, radiating pure delight, a happiness that stretched leisurely to the fingertips and toes, tingling from the crown of the head to the arches of the feet. Her mom deserved to feel that. The fact that Shawn could make her feel it was a bonus. Maya was beyond happy for them.

"Are you ready to go?" Katy asked.

Shawn nodded and turned back to Maya, as if remembering she was still there. "You gonna be okay on your own?"

"I'll be fine," Maya said. "You two crazy kids go have fun."

Katy rolled her eyes at her daughter behind Shawn's back. "You're staying in tonight?"

"Yeah," Maya didn't want to tell her mom that her and Riley were going through something yet, because it would only confirm everything her mom had been saying about Lucas, at least in Katy's eyes. It was a conversation that could be saved for later. "I've got some work to do. So, it's me and old sitcom reruns for the evening."

"Alright, baby girl," Katy said, "but you let me know if you go out."

"I'm not going anywhere," Maya slid out of her seat and began to gather her things, "except to my room."

"We might be late," Katy said, touching Shawn gently on the arm as a signal to go. Then her face perked up as she thought of something. She held up one finger and started to back toward her room. "I forgot my purse. I'll be right back. One second."

As Maya passed by Shawn, he leaned in and asked quietly. "There aren't any recon missions planned for tonight, right?"

"Don't give me ideas," Maya smirked as she kept walking. When she was past him, she turned back. She faced him as she continued on her path to her room. "I have a date of my own tonight," She laughed lightly at the expression Shawn pulled, "with twenty math problems, an essay for your bestie and, my favorite, an assignment for art."

"You're gonna give a guy a heart attack," Shawn clutched his chest dramatically.

Maya shook her head with a laugh. He couldn't be more perfect for her mom. "Make sure she has a good time. She needs the chance to let loose and have fun. It's good for her. You do that and there will be no reason for me to spy on you."

"Can do," Shawn said.

"I am ready to go this time, I'm sure of it," Katy announced as she exited her room once again, slinging her purse strap over her shoulder.

"Have a good night," Maya said. "Bye Mom, Shawn."

Katy blew her a kiss. "See you later, baby girl."

Shawn's wave goodbye was the last thing Maya saw before she disappeared into her room. She dropped her things at the foot of her bed and settled in against her headboard. She waited for the sound of the front door closing behind them before she relaxed completely. It wasn't odd for her to have time alone like this, but it felt different knowing that her mom wasn't working or running errands, that she was out on a date instead. There was no reason to, but Maya almost wanted to follow them on their date—if only to give herself something to focus on that wasn't her own problems. She needed a distraction, but she had made an agreement with Shawn. She wasn't going to leave her apartment; there had to be something else to do. It was going to have to be her homework.

Maya dragged her bag across her bed to get it close enough to dig through. She pulled out her math textbook and a notebook, dropped her phone on to the comforter beside her, and rummaged through a side pocket to find a pencil. With her text open to her assignment in front of her and her notebook balanced on one knee, her eyes strayed to her cell phone. Her fingers itched to send a text message, to find a better distraction than schoolwork. But she talked herself out of it, once, twice, and then a third time. She took a deep breath, kept her fingers clenched around her pencil and tried to focus on the first equation until the numbers blurred together in an entirely unproductive manner.

Then her phone chimed and lit up with the delivery of a text message. Maya read the name on the notification and smiled. Perfect timing for the perfect distraction.

"Nice job, Lucas," Maya murmured to herself as she typed in a response.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** and so begins my take on Semi-Formal with these versions of our favorite characters. The "dance" is going to be a key part of the next few chapters (possibly the rest of the chapters), because there's a lot for all of these kids to work out, and what better catalyst than this big event? I've enjoyed some of the Farkle x Smackle moments (is is Smarkle? I don't know, whatever it is) on the show so far, so I'm touching on it here (without the _Girl Meet Farkle, I Am Farkle_ revelations, as they're something that comes about later, past where this story will probably go). Also, Farkle has been pretty Riley biased in the last few episodes, so I wanted him to be more a more neutral entity in this story. Anyway, enjoy! R &R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Nine**

It took a week, but they were slowly approaching normal—or as close to normal as possible. Riley no longer averted her eyes, blinking as if fending off tears when Maya and Lucas were together. There was literally nothing for Riley to see, so she was adjusting. For the time being, they were all friends, _just_ friends, and they were okay.

Then the new week presented a new problem.

Farkle was the first to bring it to Maya's attention. He grabbed her on her way into the building and dragged her down the hall in the opposite direction of where she usually met with Lucas before class. When she tried to argue, he hissed in her ear, "we have a problem," and kept walking. Maya chose to humor him and let him lead her to a section of wall where a girl was pinning up an event poster. Maya and Farkle stood together and watched as the girl got the last corner of the poster in place and headed down hall to do the next.

Maya sighed as her eyes scanned the poster. "That is a problem."

Farkle nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. He waited a minute before he said, "Riley has been obsessing over Lucas asking her for—"

"—ten months, I know," Maya said. "But—"

"—it's only a week away now," Farkle continued, "and she thinks—"

"—she _thought—_ "

"—that she has this unofficial thing with Lucas," Farkle said. "But we all know that ended long before the yearbook came out."

Maya bit her lip. She had nothing to say to that, nothing she could interject to make what Farkle was saying easier to hear.

Farkle eyed her closely. "When I'm right, I'm right."

"I'm not stopping him from asking her," Maya said, which was at least partially true.

"I didn't say you were," Farkle blinked at her.

"Well, _I'm not_ ," Maya repeated.

"Maybe I should just ask her first," Farkle suggested. "I was thinking of asking Smackle, since she's been asking for the opportunity to observe the standard rites of passage of middle school first hand, something of an experiment on normal teenagers in their natural habitats, but if I state my case the right way, Riley might feel bad enough for me to say yes."

"Why would you do that Farkle?" Maya asked.

"So Riley won't feel so bad when Lucas asks you," Farkle said.

"Lucas isn't going to ask me to the dance," Maya replied.

Her eyes widened as she stared at Farkle. That possibility was not something that had ever entered her mind, not even as a fantasy, but now that he had said it out loud it made it possible, and that was an even bigger problem, because the idea that someone else thought he should ask her ignited a pleasant flutter in her stomach. That was no good for the tentative peace they had taken the last week to establish.

"He might," Farkle argued. "I saw the yearbook too, you know."

"It was out of—" Maya started, her voice rising with each word.

"—context," Farkle nodded. " _I know_. But I've also seen the two of you together before and after the yearbook. It's not hard to see that there's something there."

"Lucas is not going to ask me to the dance," Maya said once again, "because he knows I'll have to resort to extreme measures if he does. And if you've been watching us as closely as everyone else, then you know he'd never let me do that."

"He might still—"

"No. He won't. He knows better," Maya said, "And if he gets some crazy notion up in his Huckleberry head, then, well, I'll pretend it's all part of the play we do before every dance and tell him no. Easy peasy."

"You think telling him no would be that easy?" Farkle asked.

"It will be if I already have a date. Riley and I will go together. Problem solved. No one gets their feelings hurt and I don't have to break Lucas's pretty boy face," Maya said, and started to head back down the hall in the direction they came from. "You should ask Smackle to the dance, like you planned, and while you're at it, ask her how she could possibly think any of us are _normal_."

…

Maya kept an eye on Riley for the rest of the day. Riley had been obsessive about Lucas and this dance before so Maya could only imagine what was going through her friend's head now. Whatever Riley was thinking, she said nothing about it and showed very little otherwise either. The most she had done was sneak shy glances at the Semi-Formal posters that were now plastered all around the school. They were confronted with them everywhere and they were more frustrating than a battle with a hydra. Every time Maya tried to stealthily pull down one poster, twelve more seemed to crop up in even stranger places. She gave up that endeavor. The reminders were there for Riley whether Maya liked it or not. There was no protecting her from it. Maya just had to be around to pick up the pieces if or when things fell apart over it.

They were on their way to lunch when Riley turned a brief longing look on one of the posters and Maya couldn't take it anymore. She stopped Riley right there in the hall, right in front of the offending poster. What she had told Farkle was true, the best solution was for the girls to forgo dates and enjoy the dance in the company of friends. The keyword there being friends.

"Okay, let's just agree now that you and I are going to go to this thing together. Just you and me. No boys. No dates. Just us," Maya said.

"You only want me to agree to that because you're afraid no one is going to ask me," Riley replied, a hint of a frown at the corners of her lips. Maya had to give her points for not singling out Lucas as the one who wouldn't be asking her.

"Maybe I'm afraid no one is going to ask _me_ ," Maya countered without faltering. "I'm the one with the off putting personality. You're spun sugar molded into the shape of a person, someone is bound to ask you."

"I don't know," Riley sighed.

"I only suggest this because you're stressing about something that isn't that big of a deal. This way you don't spend the rest of the week worrying for nothing," Maya said. "And we can all spend the dance having fun with our friends. _Friends_ , you know, like we're all supposed to be."

Riley thought about it for a moment and then brightened, "You're right, Peaches. Who needs boys? We'll have more fun just the two of us."

"I hear you, jellybean," Maya said and linked her arm with Riley's as they continued on the way to the cafeteria. "We'll have some punch, we'll boogie down, and your pops won't have an aneurysm over you and," she put on a decent impersonation of Mr. Matthews. " _BOYS_!"

"My Dad will appreciate the reprieve," Riley said.

"Everybody wins," Maya added.

Inside the cafeteria, Maya sent Riley off to get her lunch, while she went straight to their table. Farkle and Lucas were already at the table with their lunches. She dropped into her usual seat beside Lucas. As soon as she hit her chair, he slid his side of fries over to her. She popped a fry into her mouth and then reached over to dip a second in the ketchup Lucas had on his tray. Once she had finished her second fry, Maya figured that she should get the next part over and done with before Riley made it to the table.

"Riley and I have decided to go stag to the semi-formal," Maya announced and kept her eyes on the fries in front of her.

"You're not going to wait to see if someone asks you?" Lucas frowned just enough for it to be visible when Maya looked up at him.

"Nope," Maya forced out. "There's no one I would rather spend the evening with than my best friend anyway."

Lucas opened his mouth to say something, but Farkle saved them all from having to hear what he might end up saying. It wasn't the right time. They weren't ready to hear whatever argument he might have. It wouldn't change the situation, or at least not the way he wanted it to change.

"So, you won't be jealous if I ask Smackle?" Farkle said with something of a smirk. "I know how much you look forward to rejecting my invitation."

Maya laughed. "I think I'll survive."

Farkle's statement had distracted Lucas as planned. He turned away from Maya and toward his other friend. "Smackle, huh? What happened to 'like forces repel' and all that?"

"It's still very true," Farkle said. "It would purely be an experiment in social interactions among adolescents."

"Which is what us dum-dums would call a date," Maya replied and ate another handful of fries.

Farkle rolled his eyes.

Maya smiled and gave a bit of a shrug in response.

"What are you three laughing about?" Riley asked, setting down her tray on the table as she joined them in her seat.

"Farkle and his plans for the Semi-Formal," Lucas said.

"Did he ask you to the dance again?" Riley met Maya's eyes across the table. "I hope you weren't too mean when you turned him down."

"Who me?" Maya pointed at herself. "Mean? _Never_."

Now everyone at the table was really laughing.

"Besides he didn't need to ask me," Maya said. "He already knows I have a date."

"So, you told them?" Riley responded. Once again, Maya had to give her points for not looking at Lucas specifically when the question was obviously meant to confirm that Lucas had been informed that they were off the market, at least where the Semi-Formal was concerned.

"I did," Maya said. She glanced at Lucas out of the corner of her eye, but he was staring at the table. "They know we would have ended up spending most of the night with each other anyway."

Riley nodded. "Why fight the truth?"

"I'll be going solo myself," Lucas said, finally lifting his head. He looked at both Riley and Maya, but Maya felt his eyes linger a little longer on her. She hoped Riley didn't notice, they were almost in the clear of this. "So both of you lovely ladies have to promise to save me a dance."

Riley grinned. "Sure."

"As long as it's not a square dance, I can make that happen," Maya said.

"Would you also—" Farkle began.

"No," Maya and Riley chorused.

Farkle shrugged, "It was worth a try."

After that, they moved away from the subject of the dance. Maya thought that meant that the crisis was averted for the time being. She and Riley would put on pretty dresses and do up their hair and have a great night out surrounded by friends. There would be no stress, no drama, and everything that was or wasn't going on between her and Lucas, Lucas and Riley, and her and Riley, could be put on hold for another time. Although, it was hard for Maya to not be at least a tiny bit pleased that Lucas had chosen to attend the dance alone as well in the wake of her announcement. Everything looked like it was going to be fine. No one had to make any big decisions yet. Maya thought they had all the time in the world to figure the rest out.

And then Riley opened her locker to find it filled with balloons.


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy New Year everyone! As we say farewell to 2015, I just wanted to say another thank you to everyone who has ever read or reviewed any of my stories. I appreciate each and every one of you. You're what has made the tail end of 2015, as I made my return to this site, worthwhile. I want to wish you all a wonderful new year (hopefully full of fanfiction, fandom and feels)! Now, on with my first update of 2016!**

 **A/N:** Here's chapter ten. Only four or five more chapters after this. I liked how the dynamic between Maya and Riley turned out in the first section as they deal with the newest hitch in their plans. Riley is fun to write, even though I focus much more on Maya and Lucas usually. It's still all about the Semi-Formal. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Ten**

"Charlie Gardner asked me to the Semi-Formal," Riley said.

"He did," Maya agreed.

Maya had been sitting with Rile in the Bay Window since school ended. It was going on at least an hour of Riley staring wide eyed into space while Maya stayed beside her, periodically patting her knee as as how of comfort. This was actually the fifth time Riley had walked herself through what had happened. Maya figured it was best to just nod and agree, and let Riley work it out for herself.

"There were balloons, and flowers, and Yogi on skates," Riley said.

"I know, Sweets," Maya replied. "I was there. I saw the disco ball and the giant banner."

"He told me that a girl like me deserves to be swept off her feet."

"I heard."

"And I told him I needed to think about it."

"You did."

For the first time since they arrived, Riley blinked, frowned and turned to Maya. "Why did I do that?"

"I don't know," Maya said. She patted Riley's knee once again. She didn't know what else to do.

"What do I do, Maya?"

"I can't tell you that, Hun," Maya said. "You've got to make that decision for yourself."

"You're my best friend. You know me better than anyone. What would you do if you were me?" Riley looked so desperate and was pleading with that sweet whine in her voice. It was almost enough to make Maya cave and tell her exactly what she should do. But that wouldn't help matters, and Maya wasn't confident in herself to be certain that her advice would be one hundred percent unbiased.

"I'm not you, Riley. There's only one you and you're it," Maya said. "You're right about me knowing you best. And what I know about you is this: you don't need me to tell you how you feel."

Riley turned forward again, frowning at a spot on the floor in front of her. "I think I feel confused."

"That's understandable," Maya said.

"Do you remember what my Dad said about tunnel vision?" Riley asked.

"Something about Vikings crashing their ships?" Maya shrugged. Most of what Mr. Matthews said that day had gotten lost among the other things she had been dealing with.

"He said that tunnel vision can make you miss things along the way. When you obsess over one thing, you don't see anything else," Riley said. "I think...I've had tunnel vision when it comes to Lucas. I was so focused on this fantasy I had in my head that it stopped me from seeing everything that was happening. I missed everything that was happening between you and Lucas, even when it was happening right in front of me. I didn't see Charlie coming," she turned to Maya again, "but I think _you_ did. That's why you asked about him."

"I asked about him because I've seen you talking to him and he has a severe lack of subtlety when it comes to staring at you," Maya said. "I did not see Yogi on Skates to swelling music coming. That surprised everyone."

"You know something," Riley said. "Something about me that I can't see. You have to tell me."

"It doesn't matter what I know, or don't know," Maya said. "It won't mean anything unless you make the choice yourself."

"Ugh, why does everything in my life have to be so hard?" Riley leaned over so that she could bury her face into her arms with a groan.

Maya's face contorted into a tight smile and she reached over to rub Riley's back. "You've definitely had it rough kid."

Riley sat back up abruptly, looking distressed. "I'm so sorry, Maya. That was insensitive. This is barely a problem. It's nothing. It's a blip. I'm overreacting."

"Of course you are. You're Riley," Maya said. "Don't worry about it. I can forgive your flair for the dramatic. I learned to live with it a long time ago, jellybean."

"I'm still sorry," Riley said.

"I know," Maya nodded.

They sat in silence for a few minutes after that. Riley was staring wide eyed into space again, lost in thoughts of things Maya could only imagine. Maya fiddled with her fingers and waited for Riley to talk again. She feared they might have to go through the play by play of the afternoon's events a few more times before Riley got anywhere close to a decision. It was possible that this was a problem bigger than Maya could handle on her own. Any longer without progress and she was going to have to call in reinforcements. Then Riley proved, once again, that she was full of surprises.

"I think I'm going to say yes," Riley said. "I know we said we would go together, you know, without dates, but—"

"No, it's okay, Riles," Maya said. "If that's what you want, you should go with Charlie."

"Are you sure?" Riley asked. "I don't want to bail on you."

"We decided to go together _this morning_. It's totally fine. Nothing is set in stone. It's not like I made you sign a blood oath or something," Maya said. "It'll be fine. _I'll_ be fine."

"I'm glad you're cool with it," Riley cracked a small smile, "because I think I should give Charlie a chance. He's— _something_. I think I could really like him, if I let myself look past what I had my mind set on. I think I might _actually_ like him already."

Maya nodded slowly along with Riley. This could be good for them all. It wasn't something she expected or accounted for, but somehow it was crazy things like this that seemed to always happen to them.

"I still have these feelings for Lucas," Riley said. "But I don't know what they are or what they mean. Or, how I could have them for him _and_ Charlie. It's all so confusing," She took a deep breath. "The thing that I'm not confused about is that Charlie is nice. He was so sweet today, and understanding. He taught Yogi how to skate for me, mostly. And he _likes me_. He deserves an honest shot. And I owe myself the time to figure out if I do really like him."

"If you're happy, I'm happy," Maya said. "That's how this best friend thing works."

"Just don't tell Farkle," Riley said. "Any more competition might kill him."

Maya laughed. "I think Farkle will be just fine."

Now that Riley was mostly back to her usual peppy self, and not locked in some sort of shock induced trance, Maya began to relax. It was hard to hear Riley say that she still had feelings for Lucas—it probably would never be easy to hear—but the fact that she also said she like Charlie softened the blow. At the very least, this unexpected invitation distracted her from being upset by the fact that the odds of Lucas asking her were not just slim, but nonexistent. Things had changed since ten months ago and five months ago. While they were in this strange limbo of just friends and confusion, the grand gesture-ness of Charlie's dance proposal was exactly what Riley needed to lift her spirits. In Maya's opinion, it couldn't have happened at a better time, even if Riley might disagree. If it got Riley's mind off of Lucas, it was a good thing. That might have been a little selfish of her, and Maya would probably feel guilty about it later, but it was the truth. Riley was right about having tunnel vision when it came to her fantasy of happily ever after with Lucas. If she didn't find a way to grow out of it, in their given circumstances, it was only going to get her hurt. Giving Charlie a chance to show her what she had been missing would make it easier to have the time they needed to figure everything out.

Maya was so glad that she was able to leave Riley in a good place after the whole ordeal, that she didn't realize until she got home that _she_ no longer had a date to the Semi-Formal.

…

The next morning, Riley gave Charlie her answer and Farkle announced that Smackle would be joining them at the affair as his companion. Maya started to feel claustrophobic. Her friends were pairing off and she had lost her buffer. It left her open and vulnerable. She was definitely suffocating. There was only one solution that she could see to get her out of this situation, but no one was going to like it but her. She didn't like it much herself either, but she needed room to breathe.

Maya told Farkle first, at lunch when they happened to be at their table alone right at the start of the period, because he seemed like the safest place to start.

"I don't think I'm going to go to the semi-formal," Maya said, keeping her head down and twirling the straw in her carton of milk.

Unsurprisingly, her timing was the absolute worst.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Riley cried out as she sat down beside Farkle. He tried to say something, but Riley's voice carried over his and he gave up. "Why would you not go? You have to go."

"You're going with Charlie now, Farkle's got Smackle, and...I don't want to be in the way," Maya said. "It would be such a hassle to get all dressed up and made up and whatever to go by myself, _by myself._ I'd rather be at home watching TV in my pajamas."

"That's not going to happen," Riley said. "No, I won't stand for it."

"What are you gonna do about it, jellybean?" Maya asked, trying to inject some humor into it. "Tie me down, strap me into a fancy dress and heels, and drag me into the dance by my hair?"

"If I have to," Riley replied.

"You're a hundred pounds of pure cotton candy," Maya said. "I'd eat you alive."

"Hey, you don't know," Riley said. "I have moxy."

"I'd appreciate the effort," Maya said, "but you can't make me go even if you try your hardest. I've made up my mind."

Riley pouted, but for the moment seemed out of arguments. It wasn't going to stop her though, she would come up with something else. It was just going to take her a couple minutes.

"It won't be the same without you, Maya," Farkle said. Maya couldn't tell if it was his way of trying to convince her to go, or if it was his way of accepting her decision.

"Nothing would be the same without Maya," Lucas added as he took his seat at the tail end of Farkle's comment. "What are we talking about?"

"Maya says she's not going to the dance," Farkle explained.

Lucas frowned and twisted his char around to face Maya completely. "Why not?"

"Don't you start too," Maya said.

"Maya—" Lucas started.

" _Lucas_ ," Maya stared him down until he leaned back a tick. He wasn't done yet, but he held his tongue for the moment.

Riley was done holding hers. "You said you would be fine if I said yes to Charlie."

"I am fine," Maya said.

"If I knew that meant you weren't going to go at all, I would have turned him down," Riley said.

"Which is why I didn't tell you," Maya replied. "You want to go with Charlie, and I'm not going to be the one that gets in the way of that. Besides, I didn't make the decision to not go until today. Your date with Charlie has nothing to do with it."

Riley raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," Maya conceded. "It's not the _only_ factor."

"You're not the only one without a date," Farkle said, looking pointedly at Lucas who was looking pointedly at the side of Maya's head, because she was making a point of not looking at him.

"Look, it's not about not having a date, it's not about wanting a date. I just decided it's not my kind of scene. Simple as that," Maya said.

"Even if all of your friends will be there?" Lucas asked, his gaze on her still intense.

"Even if," Maya said softly, avoiding his eyes still. She sighed, pushed her chair back from the table and stood. She gathered her trash onto her tray. "I forgot something in the art room that I need to go get. I'll see you all in class."

Thankfully, they let her go, even though their eyes followed her all the way out. They knew she was lying, that she needed an excuse to escape the conversation. Maya was a little surprised that not one, if not all, of them chased after her. She didn't want them to and she was grateful that they didn't, but they were just the type of people who would, so the fact that she made it to the art room without a shadow was a little disorienting. All it meant was that they would find a way to corner her later, after they had time to regroup and come up with airtight arguments for why she absolutely had to go to the dance. They would probably win her over too; as determined as she was, she could only hold out again Riley's puppy dog eyes for so long before she cracked. Add to that Lucas's disappointed face and she was a goner. She wouldn't last a day, but she had to try.

Maya had to do something, for the sake of her own sanity, because, when she was honest with herself, she knew what this was all really about. When Farkle presented her with the problem of Semi-Formal, she claimed that asking Riley as her date was to protect Riley from the crisis that would arise if Lucas didn't ask her. While true, Maya knew it was less about protecting Riley and more about protecting herself. Farkle was right to think that Lucas was going to ask Maya. She could feel that possibility stretch and grow into a probability as soon as Farkle suggested it. She wanted to deny him to opportunity to ask, because it would hurt Riley if he did, but also because she was scared of what would happen if she said yes. And she would have said yes, despite what she told Farkle. She would have said yes, and saying yes would have meant admitting to things she wasn't ready to admit to yet. Latching onto Riley was meant to save her from having to do that too soon, but then Charlie sneaked in and put an end to that plan. Now Maya was grasping for some way to prevent Lucas from asking since Riley left her available. This was the only way she could come up with. If she wasn't going, if she didn't _want_ to go, then she didn't need a date, and that date couldn't be Lucas. It was a flimsy play that wasn't likely to stand up, but she had to try. Her plans and schemes always fared better when Riley was involved, but since that wasn't an option she had to do the best she could on her own. At least failure was something she was used to.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N:** One of the first scenes I wrote for this story is in this chapter (it's the drip to the bah dum tshh to no stars in the city, and a callback to _Girl Meets New Teacher_ ), it was sort of the inspiration behind it although back then I didn't know how it was going to fit in. And it ended up fitting in to this little scenario. So, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Eleven**

Maya barely had a moment to breathe when she got home from school, before there was a knock on her door. She would have bet the last penny in her pocket that it was Riley on the other side of that door, come to try yet again to convince her that she had to go to the Semi-Formal. She assumed Riley had shown up in person to do what the five hundred or so unanswered text messages were unable to. Except when Maya threw open the door, expecting to groan a frustrated sigh right into her best friend's face, she found not Riley, but the last person she wanted to see on the other side.

Maya swallowed hard and tried to slide the door closed a few inches. It was an attempt to back her visitor into the hall, perhaps with her as well; anything to keep this conversation from moving into her apartment. "What are you doing here, Huckleberry?"

"I need to talk to you about something," Lucas said.

"Unfortunately, it looks like my schedule is all booked up at the moment," Maya replied. She kept one hand on her door, slowly inching it closer to closed. "If you'd like to make an appointment, I can probably scribble you in sometime around the fifteenth of not in this lifetime. Does that work for you?"

Lucas stuck out a hand, halting the creeping moment of the door. He pushed on it, slowly opening it further as he took careful steps forward. In a couple steps, he was invading her personal space and she had no choice but to let him back her into the apartment. Once inside, he shut the door behind him. Maya took a breath and stumbled back a couple more steps so he wouldn't be crowding her anymore. It didn't stop him from following her, matching each step.

"As a matter of fact, it does not work for me," Lucas said. "We're gonna talk right now. If you don't wanna talk, that's fine; it's better even, gives you more time to listen. Alright? You're gonna listen, because that's what we do for each other, you and me. What you're doing right now is _not_ what we do. You're trying to be defensive, I get it, but I'm not okay with pretending that we aren't past this. You can try to push me away, but I'm not going anywhere. Okay?"

"Did Riley send you?" Maya asked, choosing not to respond to anything Lucas said. He was right about her being defensive; she was going to stay that way as long as possible.

"Did you not hear any—" Lucas shook his had. He rubbed his hand over his face, took a deep breath, and then looked Maya straight in the eyes. "No, Riley did not send me. As for your next question, I'm sure it's right there on the tip of your tongue, neither did Farkle. No one sent me. In fact, anyone who might have sent me actually suggested that I give you space. So, you'll have to face it Maya, I am here, one hundred percent, for me."

"You're just going to say all the things everyone else has already said, so you can—" Maya started, ready to keep rambling on until Lucas gave up. She would have went on if she didn't find Lucas's finger pressed against her lips. Never before had she been so effectively silenced.

"No, see, I said I was going to talk. _You_ get to listen," Lucas said. He leaned in a little closer until Maya gave a small nod to show her understanding, then he pulled his finger away. "So, about Semi-Formal..."

Maya opened her mouth, but nothing came out before Lucas clamped a hand over it. He smiled down at her and laughed lightly. She wanted to kick him right in the shins for having the nerve to react in such a lighthearted manner when they were dealing with something too serious to evoke _laughter_.

"You're really not that great at this whole 'I talk, you listen' thing, are you?"

Maya only raised an eyebrow and blinked at him as an answer, because she could hardly do anything else.

"Let's try this one more time," Lucas said and withdrew his hand. "So, about the Semi-Formal, I'm not here to convince you to go, that would be pointless."

Maya folded her arms over her chest, but didn't try to interrupt again, because she wasn't sure if she could handle Lucas's hands on her face a third time and because at least he was right about that. She should have waited for his next sentence before she passed judgment.

"Because you are going, that's not even a question," Lucas continued. Maya gave an indignant huff over letting herself be tricked, but Lucas kept talking, drowning out her opportunity to disagree. "Let's be honest. You not going to the dance is not even an option for you, because, if you keep this up, what's going to happen is this: Riley's going to decide that if you're not going then she's not going, and she's going to cancel on Charlie. And if Riley's not going and you're not going, then Farkle's going to decide to skip it too, because what's the point if none of his best friends are there? Before all of this, I'll have decided to stay home too, because I'm not going to be the fifth wheel to Farkle and Riley's first dates, not that it'll matter because neither of those dates are going to happen if you're not there. So, we'll all be home, miserable, on what could have been a great night for all of us. And you, Maya Hart, would never be able to live with yourself if you were the cause of that. You're going. You already know that."

"You should be a travel agent, Huckleberry, because you just booked me on the best guilt trip I've ever taken," Maya replied. Truth was, he had her pegged. Her attendance was inevitable, it would have come to be somehow, one way or another. Now, she needed to lock down what the point of all this was. "If you're so sure that you know me that well, and you aren't here to persuade me to do what you already know I'm going to do, then why _are_ you here?"

Lucas looked at his feet for a long moment. As confident as he was with the first part of his speech, the second part was not coming as easy. He was nervous and that made Maya nervous. She was not going to be prepared for what he was going to say next, even if she could sort of see where he was headed. Lucas took a deep breath and Maya held hers.

"I know Riley has wanted me to ask her for a long time, assumed that I would eventually, and there was a time when I thought it was obvious that she and I would go together. Then you turned up on my doorstep and everything changed," Lucas said. He wanted to be pacing, Maya could tell from the way he fidgeted on his feet and couldn't keep his fingers still. To his credit, he stayed put, squared off with her. "That's what happened. That night changed everything, changed us, changed _me_. As much as I care for Riley, I let go of assumptions and what I thought should have been, because I couldn't explain what was happening. I didn't understand what it meant, but I knew that I wanted the chance to figure it out. Up until this week, that was what I was doing. I think, like you, the dance got lost in the mix along the way. I forgot all about it; I needed the reminder I think we both got from Farkle. I know you asked Riley to go with you so that I wouldn't ask you. So you know, I wasn't going to ask you. I knew you wouldn't be happy with the position it would have put you in. The last thing I wanted to do was make you unhappy. I was content to go alone—"

"You're using a lot of past tense there, Huckleberry," Maya broke in, mostly because she was afraid Lucas wasn't going to take another breath in the middle of the rambling mess and she didn't want him to suffocate before he made his point.

"Because that was true," Lucas said, " _before_."

"And it's not anymore?" Maya asked.

"What I'm trying to say is—"

Lucas took a couple more steps closer to Maya, the first ones she didn't match with equal steps backward. She let him close the distance, but she didn't get to hear what he was trying to say because, in the worst case of bad timing in the history of the world, the universe chose _that_ moment to remind her where they were and why she avoided letting anyone into the place she lived.

A drip from her sporadically leaky ceiling chose that moment to fall and hit Lucas right in the face while in mid-sentence.

Maya cringed, shame flooding her stomach, and backed away.

Lucas frowned and wiped his face. "When you said that about your apartment, I thought you were joking."

"Nope, the only joke here is my life,," Maya mumbled out with the weakest excuse for a smile that she could muster, "ba-dum-tshh."

She tried to raise her hands in time with the mock rim shot, but her timing was off. She looked down at her feet because she wouldn't be able to handle the judgment that was likely in Lucas's eyes. She could take it when people made off hand comments about her living situation, but she feared they would never hurt so much as the ones that could come from Lucas right then. She was so overcome by her own embarrassment over the situation, that she forgot that Lucas was the one who always knew the right thing to say. She could conjure up all the cruel things that could be said about this unfortunate moment, but none of them would ever pass through his lips.

"You know, that was nothing. A little drop, I barely felt it," Lucas said. His soft tone drew her eyes back to his. "One time, the roof of our house in Texas sprung a leak so big we could see the stars through it. You know, around the gushing steams of rainwater that flooded the whole place."

"Unfortunately, if we had a hole that big in our ceiling, the only thing we would see is Big Alfonso and his three cats," Maya said. The chilly creep of mortification ceased it's forward momentum. Lucas had a way of making her feel better, but her nerves were so fried about all of this that she couldn't stop her mouth from babbling on. "No stars for us, my friend. Not that you could ever see many stars in the city, because of all of the lights and the—"

"Be my date to the semi-formal," Lucas blurted out, halting her nonsense right there.

Maya was caught off guard, but her stomach danced with so much brilliant warmth that her answer slipped right out. "Okay."

"Is that a yes?" Lucas grinned. "Did you actually say yes?"

"I said, okay," Maya corrected and tried not to smile like a fool too, "but I guess you can take that as a yes."

"I will," Lucas said. "I will take a yes, I will take an okay. I'll take whatever you have to say, as long as it means you're going with me."

"You're pretty satisfied with yourself, aren't you?" Maya said.

"Shouldn't I be?" Lucas replied. "I've got a great date to the big dance and it took her a heck of a lot less time to think it over than I expected, which makes me feel pretty good about myself."

"Don't let it go to your head, Cowboy," Maya said.

"It might be too late for that," Lucas kept on smiling and Maya shook her head as it made it impossible for her to not smile back just as wide. He had every right to be a little smug. She had folded in two seconds flat. She couldn't exactly pretend she had put up as much of a fight as she told herself she would.

The only thing that sobered her was the realization of what came next. Maya breathed in slowly and let it out. "I have to tell Riley."

"We have to tell Riley," Lucas corrected.

Maya shook her head. "I have to do it. I promised her no more secrets, and that I would tell her if anything changed. _I_ have to tell her."

" _We_ can tell her in the morning," Lucas said. "You may have made that promise, but there's no reason why we can't both keep it. We'll tell her that you agreed to go and that we'll be going together."

It frustrated Maya sometimes how easy Lucas made things sound. It was that glowing hope that he and Riley had at their cores that made everything seem possible and simple. Although these two people in her life, Lucas especially, were masterful in their ability to get Maya to see the world in a brighter light of optimism, she knew that everything was harder in practice. This whole thing with Riley, Lucas and her was complicated, and sometimes Maya felt like she was the only one who understood that. Nothing ever came easy to Maya, her life was one struggle after another to get what she needed—and that was nothing compared to what she had to go through to get something she _wanted_. When something came to her too easily, she couldn't help but feel suspicious. It left her waiting for something to go wrong.

Lucas must have seen something in the look on her face, because he added, "Everything will be okay."

Maya nodded. "I hope you're right."

In that moment, there was no one Maya would rather put her faith in. She trusted Lucas not to lead her astray, to be honest with her. She believed him and she wanted more than anything for him to be right. But, that didn't mean that she wasn't still waiting.

…

The next morning, when Maya went with Lucas to talk to Riley, she was more nervous than she had been to see her best friend than she ever had been—even after all the drama they had been through the past few weeks. At least when the yearbook came out, Maya had been able to deny that there was something between her and Lucas, or at least try to. Now, even though she still had no words for what it was that was beginning for real between them, she could no longer deny it or even pretend to, especially not when he was standing there beside her. How this next conversation went was going to be very important, and that worried Maya.

Maya wanted to be the first one to speak, so that Riley knew that she was making her best effort to keep her promise, but Riley beat her to it.

Riley turned and faced the two of them. She glanced back and forth at each of their faces and said, "You're here to tell me that Lucas asked you to the Semi-Formal. You don't have to, I already know."

"How did you know?" Maya frowned and looked at Lucas out of the corner of her eye. He gave a short shake of his head to answer her unspoken question.

"He followed you home after school," Riley said. She shouldered the strap of her backpack and clutched her notebook and books to her chest. She kept her expression neutral as she looked between them again. "What else would he do that for? He asked and you're here right now because you said yes."

Maya was a little surprised that she didn't have to say what she had planned to say, so she was lost when it came to making any kind of response. She hoped Lucas would fare better, but from the look on his face, he didn't know what to do either. Despite wanting to, Maya couldn't bring herself to call him out for thinking this would be simple.

"I'm happy for you two," Riley said, when their silence went on for too long. She started to walk toward their class, leaving them standing at her locker.

Maya took a step after Riley, catching her elbow before she could get too far. "Riley, are you sure you—"

Riley whipped around and leveled a strained smile at them. "I said I'm happy for you, Maya, and I am. Now, we all have dates. We're going to have a great time, all of us, together, with our dates. I'm thrilled, aren't you?"

"Yeah, Riles, but I just wanted to—" Maya started, but was cut off again.

"I told Charlie we could talk about our plans for the dance before class. I have to go," Riley said, already moving again. She met Lucas's eyes over Maya's shoulder. "I'm glad you asked her."

"Me too," Lucas agreed, speaking for the first time.

Riley nodded once, sharply, and then was off down the hall.

Maya turned to Lucas, the frown still set in her features. "That could have gone better."

"She said she was happy for us," Lucas said. Her tone was a little bit more positive, but his face betrayed the fact that he had noticed all the same things Maya had.

"But you saw her," Maya replied. "Do you think she really was?"

"I think she wants to be," Lucas said, "and that's important."

Maya sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She had pictured this morning going differently. She wasn't sure what had just happened. It wasn't necessarily bad, but it wasn't quite _good_ either.

"Everything will be okay," Lucas reaffirmed. "You believe that, don't you?"

Maya met his eyes and saw the slightest glimmer of uncertainty in them. She couldn't have him doubting it, because she depended on him being secure enough to carry them both through. She made herself smile and nod, until that glimmer evaporated and Lucas looked his usual certain self with that smile shining down on her.

"I do believe that," Maya said. "Somehow, everything _will_ be okay."

She said it with enough confidence that it made it so. She believed it would all work out one way or another, because, right then, all she wanted was to look forward to the dance and the night she was going to have with Lucas. This was important to her and she wasn't going to let doubt taint it, not yet, not before she even made it there.

After that, she would leave it to the universe, and hope it decided to be kinder to her than it had in the past.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N:** And I present chapter twelve: The MAIN event. Also known as, the actual night of the Semi-Formal (at least the first part of the night). There are some references to, of course, the canon _Semi-Formal_ episode, and a nod to _Texas, Part III_ Charlie. This one is a bit longer (a big bit) than usual for this story. It sort of got away from me. I thought about breaking it into two chapters, but I couldn't find a natural breaking point that felt right and was balanced (word count/length wise). So you get one long chapter! While we've reached the Semi-Formal, the drama is far from over. New chapters should be coming steadily from here on out. Enjoy! R &R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Twelve**

It wasn't hard to focus on the dance and forget everything else once the night of the Semi-Formal arrived. Before, probably around the ten or five month out mark, Maya had imagined that she would get ready with Riley, all giggles and anticipation as they did their hair and makeup, found their perfect dresses and told each other stories about what they thought the night would be like. In those brief and, at the time, trivial because of their inevitability daydreams, Maya hadn't pictured herself a date. Par of her had assumed she wouldn't have one, that she was going simply because Riley wouldn't have it any other way. She certainly hadn't pictured herself having Lucas as her date—mostly because back then he already had a starring role as Riley's date, but also because they hadn't had that moment yet. That moment, when their eyes met in a window's reflection and they took a chance at really _seeing_ each other, that changed everything. Now that Lucas was Maya's date, she knew she couldn't subject Riley to having to watch him pick her up for the dance, especially not after the awkwardness that happened when Maya tried to reveal her new plans for the dance. So, instead of Riley, Maya spent the day with her mom and planned to meet the rest of her friends and their dates at the dance. It wasn't the same, but Maya kind of loved getting to share the experience with her mom, a sentiment that Katy reciprocated. Katy had missed quite a few milestones due to circumstances that were beyond her control, but this wasn't going to be one of them.

" _There,_ " Katy slid one last pin into Maya's hair, pulling back a few strands while the rest fell in loose curls over Maya's shoulders. She took a step back, both hands raised as if she had just placed something delicate, ready to catch it if it fell apart. She smiled as everything stayed in place and brought her hands together. "What do you think?"

Maya turned to look at herself in the mirror. The image was complete now that hair and makeup was done and the dress and heels were on. She felt like a different person. She smiled as she met her mom's gaze in the mirror. "It's perfect."

"Are you sure? It's not too much back? Or did you want _more_ up?" Katy asked, her hands twitching as if to play with her daughter's hairstyle some more.

Maya spun to face her mom again, gathered both of Katy's hands in hers. "Mom, it's _perfect_. Thank you for doing it for me. If I had to do it myself, I'd have given up already and thrown it in a ponytail or something."

"You're nervous," Katy said.

"How'd you notice?" Maya breathed. She released her mom's hands to get another look in the mirror. She smoothed her hands over the skirt of her dress and tried to pretend her fingers weren't tingling from the build up of anxiety.

"Your first big formal dance. Your first big date," Katy said. "How could you not be? Also, you've been making these little sighing noises every few minutes. It wasn't hard to do the math on that one."

"I just keep thinking that I'm going with Lucas, and he's freakishly perfect and I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm going to say something stupid, or not say anything at all; I'm going to trip, or break a heel off my shoes and, not that I'm not short with them, but I _need_ those couple inches; and what if he laughs at me or worse, and then everything goes horrible—" Maya broke off as she started to run out of breath "—but then I think I'm going with _Lucas_ , and he's freakishly perfect and even if all of that happens, he's not going to care and I'm not going to care, and—" Maya sighed softly, as she had been every few minutes all day "—it'll be amazing no matter what."

Katy hugged Maya from behind, and laid a hand over her daughter's heart. "That's how you know he's special, baby girl."

"And that's why I'm nervous," Maya said. Her hand reached up to rest over her mom's.

"I'd be more concerned if you weren't," Katy said.

A knock at the door had them both turning to see Shawn peeking his head into the room. Once he saw that Maya was all ready, he stepped all the way into the room, leaving the door slightly ajar.

"The boy is here," Shawn said.

Maya's stomach flipped, and if it was possible, her nerves quadrupled. She tried to breathe slow.

"His name is Lucas," Katy said as she released Maya and crossed the room to Shawn.

"I know his name," Shawn replied. Maya smiled to herself at the face he pulled and the flip flop of her stomach eased a little.

"I'll see to your date. Take a couple more minutes to yourself," Katy told Maya. She patted Shawn on the chest as she passed and kissed him lightly on the cheek. "Maybe you could remind her how to breathe. See you both in a few."

Once Katy was out the door, Maya turned to Shawn. She forced herself to smile as she tried to even out her breathing, counting softly to herself as if it might help her. Shawn had an expression on his face similar to the one he wore in Demolition when he had helped her revamp her wardrobe. She hoped that was a good sign. Her fingers curled into the fabric of her skirt, twisting it slightly so that it swished around her legs. She wanted his opinion so badly, but she couldn't bring herself to ask for it.

"Well, will you look at you," Shawn said.

"Be honest. Is it too much? Is it not enough?" Maya asked, looking down at herself and then back to Shawn.

"I think you look great, Maya," Shawn said, "but the important question is: are you happy?"

"Yeah, I think so," Maya nodded, her lips tugging upward.

"Good," Shawn said, "because that's what looks best on you, kid. Everything else is just...decoration."

"Pretty fancy decoration," Maya replied.

"As long as you're smiling, that's all that matters," Shawn said.

"Do you think he'll like it?" Maya asked. She knew she would have to go out there sooner or later and she would find out for herself, but she needed some reassurance before she stepped out that door.

"He'd be stupid not to. Granted, boys your age tend to be stupid. Boys of any age, really," Shawn said, a hand running haphazard through his hair. He was shifty, looking a little uncomfortable, like he was the last time they talked about Lucas—more importantly, at least to Maya, like Mr. Matthews looked every time he was confronted with boys and his daughter. "But, I will tell you that he looks as nervous as you do. It means he cares, and if he cares, well, he'll think you look perfect no matter what."

"He's nervous too?"

"Quaking in his boots," Shawn nodded, his word choice obviously for her benefit.

"Gosh, if you only meant that literally, that would be just precious," Maya breathed a small laugh.

"Time to go?" Shawn asked.

Maya took a deep breath. "Okay, I think I'm ready."

Shawn offered her his arm to escort her out to the living area where her mom and Lucas waited. Maya slipped her arm through his and took one last second to prepare herself before they left her room.

Just before they crossed the threshold of her doorway, Shawn added, "If he gives you any trouble, he'll have me to deal with."

Maya laughed lightly. "Tell him that."

"Believe me, I already did."

Shawn looked so serious when he said it that it forced a full laugh in a burst from Maya's lungs. It rung out louder and clearer than any other laugh she had managed that day—the only one not inhibited by nerves or fears. So, that was the first impression Lucas got of her as she appeared in front of him. As soon as she was there, he was staring. Maya almost wished that Shawn hadn't immediately left her side to stand with her mom, because her knees threatened to buckle as she met Lucas's eyes. This was the shyest Maya had ever felt as she found herself under Lucas's intense gaze. His mouth was slightly open as he stared and, even though it took her breath away, it felt good that she had made Lucas Friar's jaw drop. That was just fine for a minute, but the longer they stood there in silence the more she wanted him to say something, anything to fill the empty air, even if she was afraid of what he might say.

Finally, Lucas visibly swallowed and found his tongue as he smiled at her. "You, uh, look good. What am I saying? You look better than good. Beautiful, you look beautiful." Lucas fiddled with the collar of his dress shirt with one hand and let out a strained breath. "Maya, you look amazing."

Maya smiled softly and took a few steps closer. She pushed Lucas's hand away and adjusted his collar to lay flat against his suit jacket. "Calm down, Huckleberry. I accept your compliment. You clean up nicely yourself. You could almost pass for one of us city folk in this get up."

Lucas released a breath that sounded a little more like normal and held up what he had in his other hand. "I know you said to not make a big deal out of this, but I got you a corsage. My mama said it's the sort of thing I should do."

"You're doing Billy and Sally proud," Maya said as Lucas popped open the plastic container and withdrew the corsage.

"My favorite," Maya said when she finally looked down at the delicately arranged flowers as he slid them onto her wrist. She looked up to meet his eyes again. "How did you know?"

"I pay attention," Lucas replied. His fingers lingered on her wrist as he met her eyes with the same intense stare from earlier.

"Nice job, Lucas," Katy whispered to Shawn.

"Picture Time!" Shawn announced, clapping his hands and drawing them out of whatever unspoken exchange was happening between the two. He picked his camera up of the table and moved to get a better angle on them.

"You're taking the pictures?" Maya asked. She took one step back from Lucas, her hand falling from his, aware that they had been caught, although she wasn't sure what it was that they had been caught doing. "We should pay you for your services, Mr. Professional Photographer."

"I get to be here for this," Shawn said as he framed them up. "That's payment enough."

Katy shifted over so she was standing beside Shawn again. She gestured her hands at Maya and Lucas. "Squeeze together, you two."

"They're close enough," Shawn snapped a couple test shots.

"Nonsense," Katy rolled her eyes. "Squeeze in."

Katy gestured at them until Maya was pressed into Lucas's side and he had his arm around her waist. Then she proceeded to coach them into several standard poses, each one making Shawn go redder in the face as he did a better job at containing whatever outburst he was thinking of making than Mr. Matthews ever could. The only direction Katy never had to give them was to smile, because they wore matching beaming smiles through the whole experience. Maya tried to focus on the content expression on her mom's face and not the warm feel of Lucas's fingers through her dress wherever they rested. Although Shawn looked like he might want to call it quits on the photo session a few times, it was Katy and her glance at the time that signaled the end of it.

"Alright, you two should get going," Katy said. "So you have time to meet up with the rest of your friends."

Lucas's hand slid to rest against her lower back. He leaned down to meet Maya's eyes. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, let's get to this hoedown before everyone else has too much fun without us," Maya nodded.

"Like anyone is going to have fun without us," Lucas said.

"Zay might," Maya said.

"Yeah, until he asks one too many cheerleaders to dance and he gets escorted out in a raging stampede of pompoms," Lucas said.

"Well, then we better get going," Maya said. "I don't want to miss that."

"Have fun, baby girl," Katy said and hugged Maya as she passed by. She pressed a kiss to Maya's temple and whispered so only her daughter heard. "You deserve it. I'll see you when you get home. I want to hear all about it."

Maya nodded and backed out of her mom's embrace. She pulled away just in time to see the way Lucas's face scrunched up as he shook Shawn's hand and got a tighter grip than he anticipated. She kept her laugh to herself as she grabbed Lucas by the arm and pulled him to safety a few steps from Shawn.

"Come on, we've got to go before his head explodes," Maya said, leading Lucas to the door. She called over her shoulder. "Thanks for being here, Shawn. I'll see you guys later."

Lucas waved his goodbye, but appropriately didn't say anything else.

Right before the door closed behind the pair, Maya heard the last comments from Shawn and her mom.

"I liked him better when he was Cory's problem."

"Oh, shush, they're _happy_."

…

The music was pumping by the time they arrived, so loud that it filtered out into the hallways as only a thrumming bass beat that Maya could feel in her chest the closer they got to the entrance. Their friends were waiting for them in the hall outside the main doors, their designated meet up spot for the evening. Although, there was one obvious absence when Maya and Lucas joined the two pairs.

"He waited for as long as he could," Farkle explained, "but a group of cheerleaders got here a few minutes ago and his resolve broke."

Lucas nudged his elbow into Maya until she smiled up at him. "I told you."

"Yeah, you were right, Huckleberry," Maya rolled her eyes. "What do you want, a trophy?"

"I mean, I'm not opposed," Lucas started to say and trailed off into a laugh as Maya shoved him playfully. He rocked away from her at her push, but swayed right back to press against her side.

Riley pursed her lips and linked her arm through Charlie's. "Shall we go in?"

Without waiting for an answer, Riley twisted around, pulling Charlie with her. He had a second to flash the rest of them a sheepish smile before he was spun and dragged through the doors. Farkle shrugged and steered Smackle in after them, leaving Maya and Lucas alone in the hall for a short moment. Maya took a deep breath. She had seen the tension in Riley's shoulders. She had seen the way Riley looked at them as they acted with their, now usual, playful ease. It wasn't supposed to be a problem. Riley had chosen to go with Charlie. Riley had made that decision herself. She wasn't supposed to get that look in her eyes when she saw Maya and Lucas together. It was supposed to be okay, or as close to okay as they could get while they were all still resolving their feelings, but somehow, deep down, Maya knew it was going to be a problem. She didn't want it to be; she didn't want to have to worry about that too. Maya expected Lucas to offer his arm again; instead, he laced his fingers between hers. That helped.

Maya let Lucas lead the way and they followed their friends into the dance. Once inside, Maya had to admit she was slightly impressed. Part of her had wanted to pretend that the "importance" of this event was an exaggeration. That part of her had imagined cheesy streamer and balloon combinations, rickety chairs and tables, and oppressive chaperones lingering in the dark corners. While that made for a great, and laughable, daydream, that was not what she found on the other side of the doors. Elaborate decorations, decent music, and excitement she could feel radiating off their classmates created a delightful atmosphere. Maya would have been disappointed if she had missed out on this. She would have been even more disappointed if she had let herself miss out on having Lucas at her side through it.

Maya looked up at Lucas as their group wandered further into the room, skirting the edges as they settled in. "This is something, isn't it?"

"Do you want me to nod and agree or do you want me to say something that'll make you blush?" Lucas asked.

Out of the corner of her eye, Maya could see Riley sneaking glances over her shoulder at them. Maya sighed, "Riley could hear you. You should just nod and agree."

Oddly obedient, Lucas nodded once and said, "It _is_ something."

Maya squeezed his hand gently as a thank you.

"Smackle and I are going to hit the dance floor," Farkle announced when they had circled to the far side of the room.

"Phase one of our experiment," Smackle agreed.

"Anyone gonna join us?" Farkle asked.

"Riley?" Charlie looked to his date.

Riley looked at the hand Charlie held out to her and then at Maya and Lucas. She took Charlie's hand and released a nervous laugh that she tried to cover with a strained smile. "Sure, right, of course. That's what you're supposed to do at a dance. _Dance_ , right?"

"You are so cute when you babble," Charlie said. He looked to the others. "Is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?"

Riley blushed crimson and pulled Charlie away as she had earlier. Farkle and Smackle were right behind them, once again leaving Maya and Lucas standing on their own. They turned to watch their friends as they wound their way into the crowd of dancers. Farkle and Smackle went a little further into the mass of moving bodies, until they could no longer be seen. Riley and Charlie stayed closer to the edge of the dance floor where they were still in Maya's line of sight. Although, she realized that it was more of a strategy meant to keep _her_ in Riley's line of sight. Even though Riley was a mess of giggles as Charlie twirled her around in time with the music, it was hard to miss the periodic looks Riley sent in their direction—over her shoulder, over Charlie's shoulder, or the one time she spun around with her back to Charlie to look at them unobstructed. It made Maya distinctly aware of the space, or lack thereof, that was between Lucas and her. Part of her thought she should move away, but a stronger part of her liked being exactly where she was at that moment. The only thing she would have liked better was to be closer. She was in so much trouble, but at least she was well acquainted with it.

"So," Lucas said. He kept his eyes trained on the dance floor, same as Maya. "Do I have to get Riley's permission before I ask you to dance?"

"Of—of course not," Maya stammered.

"Because we were doing great on the way here," Lucas said. He was looking at her now, but she kept staring straight forward. "But now you're tense and you keep inching away from me, which I'm not sure you even notice that you're doing. And it doesn't take a Farkle or Smackle genius IQ to realize that it's because of Riley."

"I thought she would be more comfortable," Maya admitted. She let her eyes follow Riley around the dance floor. "She chose to come with Charlie. I made sure she made that decision for herself. I know she didn't mean it, but she said she was happy for us. I thought she would at least _try_."

"Look, Maya," Lucas turned Maya to face him, his hands around each of her arms forcing her to lose sight of her best friend as she looked up at him instead. "I care about Riley, you know I do. And I know what she means to you. But I asked _you_ to be my date and you said yes. That's what matters right now."

"I know. I just expected—"

"Maya," Lucas said softly, "What do you want to do?"

Maya started to glance back at where she had last seen Riley, but Lucas's hand on her chin stopped her before she could. His gentle grip kept her face tilted toward his and she breathed in shakily.

"Don't think about Riley right now," Lucas said. "This is you and me, that's it. What do you want to do?"

It was difficult for Maya to separate her thought process from Riley. Up until recently, she had never had to before. They had always been of one mind, sure of the right course to take. It was clear now, though, that the right course had always served to bring Riley closer to what she wanted, to lead her to a happiness that Maya never expected to have. Maya made decisions that would protect Riley or bolster her up in reach of her dreams. It had been easy, uncomplicated, because Maya had never asked for anything for herself. Her best shot at happiness was being in proximity to Riley's. That had been fine before Lucas opened Maya's eyes to everything she had and all the possibilities that awaited her in the future. Now, she wanted for herself, which was a good thing, but there was still something holding her back—a reason she was clinging to Riley and their old ways as an excuse, a reason she wasn't ready to admit to herself. So, instead, for at least a few minutes, she let herself stop thinking about any of it, just to see what might happen.

"i want to dance with you," Maya said.

Lucas smiled. "Then let's dance."

Maya followed Lucas out onto the dance floor until they felt the warm crush of other people dancing around them. He was careful about where he guided them, making sure that even if Riley could see them, Maya couldn't see Riley. It allowed her to relax and focus all her energy on him. It was the only way she was going to be able to have any fun. At least, Lucas was there to make sure that she did. They started off slow, bouncing around each other in time with the music. Once they found their rhythm, their movements grew more elaborate. Lucas's hands found her waist and his hold on her pulled her closer and matched her rhythm to his. By then, Maya was bursting at the seams with so much joy and excitement, that she was no longer burdened down by worries over what it might look like to someone watching them. She was over the moon having fun with her date and she didn't care what anyone thought about how she wrapped her arms around him and smiled up at him. She wasn't going to stop until she was out of breath or her high heels betrayed her.

The upbeat music faded into a slower number and Maya's stomach flip flopped. She was still trying to decide what she should do when Lucas circled his arms all the way around her, drawing her in until there were barely inches between them. She had relaxed into something so malleable that she went along with it without even the slightest resistance. Her arms locked together around his neck and they swayed together in time to the song. For the first few moments, she wanted simply to watch his face and kept her eyes locked on his. As always, he was laid bare before her and the thoughts in his eyes were quickly too intense for her. When she could no longer meet his eyes, Maya ducked her head and rested it against his chest. They stayed like that for the rest of the song, curled into each other and rocking with the melody just enough to still be considered dancing. It was nice to be that close without having to have an explanation for it, and to not have to worry about what it meant that they were that close. Maya was keen to enjoy it for as long as it lasted—because peace like that was always fleeting.

The last notes of the song faded into the first beats of the next cued up pop anthem. Maya lifted her head as she and Lucas started to pull apart. Her eyes met his and she knew something was about to happen as soon as she did. If she looked away, it would kill the moment. She knew that she should do that, because she wasn't ready for it to happen and, more importantly, Riley wasn't ready to see it happen—or maybe it was the other way around, but either way, the only person who seemed entirely ready was Lucas. Maya thought she should look away, but the look in Lucas's eyes was so enticing, she couldn't make herself break the eye contact. Lucas's hands moved from her waist and rose up to frame her face. His fingers stroked her cheeks and tickled the back of her neck as they slid in between tendrils of her hair, all the while, he never looked away from her eyes. Lucas started to lean in closer and Maya had only a couple seconds to decide if she was going to let him do what he was going to do.

Maya's stomach twisted and she held her breath. In the end, she didn't make a decision either way, because out of the corner of her eye she saw a vaguely Riley shaped blur run by her to the right and Maya twisted out of Lucas's embrace to get a better look at Riley fleeing to the refreshment table. It shattered the moment and Maya didn't have a chance to decide if that was good or bad or something in between before Charlie appeared beside them. He settled next to her and Lucas with a heavy sigh and propped his hands on his hips. His eyes stayed focused on Riley even as he addressed Maya and Lucas.

"I'm adorable," Charlie said. "How does she not see this?"

"She sees it, believe me," Maya replied, even though her stomach was twisting for an entirely different reason now. "She just doesn't know it yet."

Charlie sighed again, but smiled his usual too wide for the current situation grin. "I guess it's good I chose a girl worth waiting for then."

Maya forced a tight smile. "I'll go talk to her."

"Maya—" Lucas started and reached out a hand to touch her arm before she could walk away.

When she turned back to him, she couldn't meet his eyes, so she focused on a spot somewhere around his chin. "I won't be long. It'll be fine. Charlie can keep you company."

Before Lucas could protest any further, Maya slipped away, following the path Riley had taken a few minutes before. Riley had skirted by the refreshment table and lingered a couple steps away from the punch bowl. Maya took a deep breath and approached slowly. Riley was wringing her hands and glancing nervously at the punch, at Maya and past her where Lucas and Charlie were probably still waiting. This was likely to be an awkward conversation, so Maya wanted to approach it the right way.

"Hey, Riles," Maya said, trying to be casual as she made a point to inspect the refreshment table and the punch bowl.

Riley saw through it as quick as Maya assumed she would. "Did Charlie send you over here?"

"Do you think I need Charlie Gardner to tell me when I need to talk to my best friend?" Maya countered, finally meeting Riley's eyes. "Of course not. I came over here to see how your night is going."

Riley sighed. "It's not exactly what I expected."

Riley looked over in Lucas and Charlie's direction once more before she started to walk out of sight of the boys. She continued to fiddle with her fingers as she took a few paces. Maya had to take half a dozen quick strides to catch up. She fell into step beside Riley and they circled the room together.

"What do you mean?" Maya asked.

"I'm sorry, Maya," Riley said. "I thought if I could just go out and have fun with Charlie that it would make everything make sense, but I think it may have only made things more confusing. One second, I'm having a great time with Charlie. He makes me laugh, he makes me smile and he _gets_ me. He's different and I like it, and I'm happy, but then the next second, I see you with Lucas and—"

"—and you're _not_ happy," Maya finished for her and, when Riley didn't correct her, her stomach didn't just twist, it sunk.

"I'm _so_ sorry, Maya," Riley said. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm not jealous, not exactly. I want to be here with Charlie, _I do_ , and I want you and Lucas to have the night you deserve to have. I just _don't understand_. If I _like_ Charlie, then why do I still feel exactly the same way I felt about Lucas as I did before?"

Maya couldn't answer that question. The only thing she could do was tell her best friend that it was alright, that everything would be okay, because everything was going to go back to the way it was. Even if she wanted it, what might have, maybe, possibly been about to happen with Lucas couldn't happen—not if it was going to hurt Riley, or make Maya feel like she couldn't breathe, like her chest might explode from the oxygen trapped in her lungs, like her her heart was racing as fast as if she were running, running so fast that the only options were to collapse or keep running, and like the urge to give into those sensations and actually _run_ was actually tempting. None of those words got a chance to make it past her lips because the thought of giving _up_ that thing with Lucas inspired the same reaction as the idea of giving _into_ that thing with Lucas. Maya was suddenly dizzy with confusion. Now that both she and Riley were distracted and disoriented by what they did or didn't feel, they almost barreled into three adults huddled around one of the tables.

"Hey, my niche! Molly Ringwald!" Eric's voice called out to them as they just came short of stalking straight into him, his brother and another man about their shape and size.

"He's really not trying anymore," Maya mumbled on instinct.

"Hello Uncle Eric, Dad," Riley nodded at each of them and smiled weakly. Her brows were knit together, a clear sign that she was still focused on her conversation with Maya.

"Dad? Wait, this is your daughter?" the third man asked Cory, his voice full of amazement.

"Hi, I'm Riley," Riley greeted him, giving him a chance to take her in and then she flitted her gaze back to Maya.

"Oh, hi, Riley. It's a pleasure to meet you," he said and then back to Cory added, "What's it like having a daughter, man?"

All of this played like sound through water, muffled and distorted to Maya's ears as she stared off into space. So many thoughts were running through her head. Riley liked Charlie. Riley liked Lucas. Maya liked Lucas, she was ready to admit that now. She liked him, even if she didn't know what that meant for her, or Lucas, or her friendship with Riley, or their lives in general. And Lucas liked Maya, even if she had never let him say it out loud she knew that now. It was all too much. It was all so complicated. She could have gotten lost in all of it, if Riley's voice didn't drag her back.

"Shouldn't it go away?" Riley directed at Maya, and then, looking at everyone present. "How do you like two people differently?"

"Jack," Cory said. "You wanna know what it's like to have a daughter? Why don't you take this one?"

"Oh buddy," the man, Jack, breathed. He stepped forward. "Well, um, okay, there was once this girl who had to make a choice between Eric and me. Rachel, she, uh, she liked me as—"

That was as far as Maya could take. She couldn't listen to how that story ended. She couldn't fix Riley's problem. She couldn't even fix her own problems. And if she couldn't do that, then there was no point in staying there. Besides, those panicked feelings from earlier were there in full force and she needed to be somewhere else, where the walls didn't feel like they were closing in on her. So, Maya slipped away. No, Maya ran away. She fled, until she no longer felt like clawing at her chest or was gasping for a full breath. Maya pushed her way out of the entry doors, stumbled down the hall and shoved through the door to the girls' restroom. It wasn't until she was locked into an empty stall, her forehead pressed against the cool surface of the stall door, that she was able to pull in a deep breath. The answer was right there. She knew what she wanted, but it was just out of her reach. Every time she tried to snatch it, her hands came back grasping at air.

Riley was right: this night was not at all what she expected.


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** The Semi-Formal drama continues! This is chapter thirteen, and there are only a couple more chapters left after this. It's the final stretch guys, and the chapters are going to come somewhat fast (since they are already written, thankfully). While Maya ran off last chapter, let's assume Riley still got the whole of the speech from Jack (from the canon episode). I get the point the show was trying to make with it, but Riley takes it a bit differently here. Anyway, enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Thirteen**

"Maya? Are you in here?"

It was Riley's voice, small and tentative, echoing around the empty bathroom walls. As much as Maya wanted to crawl into a corner and hide from her best friend, she knew that would accomplish nothing. She couldn't avoid everything forever, though it wasn't beyond her to try. She had had enough time to at least catch her breath before Riley arrived and she took another deep breath before she unlatched the lock. Maya eased the stall door open and stepped out slowly to reveal herself to her friend. Instead of turning to Riley, she moved to the nearest sink and twisted on the tap to wash her hands, simply to have something to do with them.

"Are you okay, Maya?" Riley asked as Maya shook water from her fingers, turned off the tap, and crossed the room to grab a paper towel and dry her hands. "You ran out so fast. I was worried. _Lucas_ was worried when he couldn't find you."

"Can we not talk about Lucas, please?" Maya frowned as she avoided looking at Riley. She fisted her fingers around the paper towel, crumpling it into a ball and squeezing it hard.

"I think we _need_ to talk about Lucas," Riley said.

Maya made a sound in the back of her throat that was a cross between a whimper, a sigh and a grunt. It was neither permission nor denial for Riley to continue, but continue Riley did. Riley walked over to Maya, punctuating each slow step with another sentence.

"You see, Maya, I had all these ideas about how things were, but those ideas didn't always match up with the reality of things. After years of the world being exactly what I thought it was, that was baffling to me. How could I be so wrong about things? But that's what I was. I was wrong. We're not my Dad and Shawn. We're my Uncle Eric and Jack. And Lucas isn't my mom; he's Rachel."

Maya frowned and looked up to search Riley's face for a clearer explanation.

"I get it now," Riley grinned.

So, Riley wasn't confused anymore, but all that had accomplished was to confuse Maya even further.

"Get what?"

"History can repeat itself, but not always the way we think it will," Riley tilted her head as she met Maya's gaze. "Or maybe the point is that everything that has come before us has a way of showing us the truth of what we're uncertain of now. Learn from the past, remember?"

"I don't understand, Riley," Maya said.

"There was a girl, _Rachel_ , who liked my Uncle Eric and that man back there, Jack. She liked them both very much, but she liked them in different ways. She liked Jack as a boyfriend and she liked Eric like a brother," Riley explained. "I used to think Lucas and I would be like my mom and dad, because, it's _silly_ but, I always thought that was the only way love was supposed to work. I liked Lucas so much, that I labeled it romantic, because I assumed it had to be when it was that strong. I was wrong."

"Riley—"

"There's only one Cory and Topanga, and there are many ways to like a person, not just one, not just two either," Riley continued. "Maybe I don't like Lucas like a brother, but I don't like him like _you_ do. More importantly, he doesn't like me like he likes you. You're the one that's right for him."

Maya stayed silent, because the panic was starting to creep back in at Riley's words.

"I didn't understand why how I felt about Lucas never changed, but I get it now. It didn't need to change, because I was wrong about what I was feeling for him. All I needed was a little clarity," Riley said. "We are _friends_ , maybe more than, but without a doubt, it is a platonic love that I feel for him."

"And how does Charlie fit in to this?" Maya asked, to get the focus off of her and Lucas so she could calm down again. "You've still got Charlie."

"I do," Riley smiled. "I don't know. Maybe there's something there, maybe not. I'm ready to wait and see. I wasn't before, even though I said I was. I needed to figure things out. Now I have. The question is, have you?"

"I'm not sure," Maya said.

"Maya, it's a yes or no question," Riley replied.

" _I don't know_ ," Maya breathed out swiftly. "I can't—Every time I try to think about it, it's like everything shuts down. I feel like no matter what I do it's going to be wrong. I'm glad you figured out what you've been feeling, Riles, I really am, but it's not _easy_ for me. No that's wrong. I know it wasn't easy for you; it hasn't been easy for any of us. But with you, you got your answer and you know what to do with it. Even if I've figured it out. I can't—I _can't_ do anything about it."

"Of course you can," Riley said.

"No, I _can't_ ," Maya tried to gesture out what she meant, but that only made it harder to understand. "Like, I _can't—_ "

"Maya, we all want you to get exactly what you want," Riley reached out and laid a hand on Maya's arm. "You don't have to worry about what anyone else thinks. No one is going to stop you from doing what you need to do."

"No, see, _that's_ the problem," Maya pressed shaking hands to her temples, holding back the few wisps of hair that fell forward into her face. "There was a time when I thought it would always be you stopping me from ever allowing myself to feel or do anything about Lucas, but that's not the problem. The problem is that there's _nothing_ stopping me from admitting exactly what I want. So, the only thing standing in my way is _me_. I'm the problem and I don't know how to—I can't do anything about it."

Riley seemed to finally understand what Maya was trying to get across. She stroked her hand down Maya's arm and squeezed Maya's hand into her own. "Okay, so you know how you feel, you know what you want. Tell me why you don't want to let yourself act on it."

 _Why?_ Maya staggered back a step, pulling her hand away from Riley. She couldn't answer that question, not out loud, not even in her own head. She had already said more than she ever meant to. When she lived in a world where Riley Matthews was her best friend and Lucas Friar was her... _something,_ Maya knew there was no chance that her feelings could stay private—not when they could see through her as if she was an open door and their lives were constantly turned into a weekly history lesson—but there were some things she refused to admit to even herself. As far as she was concerned, there was no why, it just was. It was just a fact of her life.

"I think you should talk to Lucas," Riley said. "Whatever this is, he'll understand, maybe even better than I could. You'll let him, because you let him in already—that I _can_ see."

"No," Maya shook her head. "I—I can't talk about it. I need to not think about it at all."

"Okay," Riley said. She looked concerned, but she didn't try to force it further, which must have taken a lot of restraint for her. "Then at least come back to the dance. We can enjoy the rest of our night. Have some fun, dance a little, and forget about all of this drama for a few hours. We can start to figure this all out tomorrow."

It sounded like a good idea, until Maya remembered what the last dance almost led to. She couldn't talk this through with Lucas and if she couldn't talk to him then she couldn't face him. She couldn't face any of them. Not Riley, who would be hiding her worry for the rest of the night. Not Farkle, whose keen eye would be far too perceptive. Especially not Lucas, who probably already knew exactly what was going on in her head. No, Maya couldn't go back to the dance. She couldn't pretend anymore and she couldn't do anything else either. If she couldn't make a choice about her situation, then she had not other choice.

"I have to go," Maya whispered.

"What?" Riley responded. "You can't—"

"I have to leave," Maya nodded with each step toward the door. "I can't stay here and pretend that everything is fine when it isn't, and you all deserve better company. I should go home, sleep on it, hope for _clarity_."

Riley followed after her step for step, protesting all the way, but was drowned out by Maya's persistent rambling.

Clearly there was no solution that anymore time at the Semi-Formal could provide for her. Billy and Sally had it easy with their black and white lives. Everything was yes or no for them. One way or the other, and it either went good or bad. Maya felt like it was unfair. What if the fork in the road led to two different, but equally disastrous and devastating ends? What was a person to do then? The answer was _absolutely nothing_. Figuratively, she was frozen in place. As long as she didn't move forward, nothing had to change. Literally, she was bursting forward, running from that indecision.

Maya had never imagined that she would end up here when she knocked on Lucas's door that night. She had never imagined that the softly spoken words "that girl has love" and the simple, unqualified, but none the less sincere, "that girl has me" would turn everything upside down. She never imagined that the stupid smile of Lucas's turned solely on her could make her feel so much, _too much_. It was so much easier when she was on the sidelines, a side character in her best friend's story, because standing in the spotlight left her vulnerable. Did that mean she would take it all back so she could feel normal again?

Yes or no, either way it was killing her. She needed to go home before she said or did anything she might end up regretting. She needed time. She needed space. She needed air. She thought she would get all of those things when she pushed her way back out of the girls' bathroom.

Only, when she stepped out into the hall, waiting for her was the catalyst of this whole mess. She almost retreated right back into the restroom, but she realized if she did, he would just keep waiting for her. He would always be waiting for her.

So, Maya met Lucas's eyes for a split second, searching for all the things she already knew were there, and then she kept running.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N:** Second to last chapter has arrived! (although I do have a bonus "chapter" coming after that). This is where things start to wrap up. So I hope you enjoy! There's a little call to _New Year's_ , and the line that inspired the title (and most of the premise of the story), should be easy to spot. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Fun Fact:** As of this chapter, my word processor has now determined Huckleberry as worthy of predictive text, so that should be a sign of my complete and utter immersion into this fandom.

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Fourteen**

At first, the only sound in the empty hallway was the echoing click clack of Maya's heels as she rushed for the exit. It was only a few seconds before the soft thump of Lucas's footsteps joined in. Her short legs were no match for his easy strides and he caught up with her almost immediately. Even though he was only a couple feet behind her, she refused to look back and acknowledge his presence. Even when he called out her name in an attempt to stop her, she kept moving forward, one quick step after another. She could see the door ahead of her. It wasn't that much further. If she could just make it through it, she would be free and clear. But not if he was right on her heels.

"Stop following me, Lucas," Maya hissed.

"I'm sorry, but I've been following you for so long that, sadly, I think it's a habit I'll never be able to break," Lucas said. "Come on, Maya, I didn't take you as the kind of person to run away from something."

Maya muttered under her breath. Of course he would resort to playing dirty. She kept her eyes trained straight ahead, but she couldn't ignore that comment. "That would be under the assumption that there's something to run from."

"I think this is something," Lucas said. "I think we both know it."

"Oh, you do, huh, Huckleberry?" Maya replied.

" _Yes_."

It was the dead serious tone that froze her forward momentum. Maya came to an abrupt halt an arm's length away from the door. She had come so close, but the cowboy had her pegged. He knew all the right buttons to push, and it would have been the most annoying thing in the world if it wasn't so gosh darn flattering. She was going to have to ask him where he had gotten all of his confidence on the subject, because she had been in it as long as he had, and she had no idea what she was doing. She couldn't ask that, with its sarcastic edge, not after he had just spoken with such sincerity, so she said nothing. She stayed, standing with her back to him, until he decided to speak again. He wouldn't get more from her. Anyone who meant less to her, she would have walked out on.

"I know this started out about Riley, you spent a lot of time hiding from what this could be because of how you thought Riley would feel about it, but this isn't about her anymore," Lucas said. "Maybe she's never been the thing holding you back. I think—I think this is about you being scared."

Maya spun around to face him. "I'm not scared of you."

"No," Lucas said, "but you're scared of this," he gestured a hand between them, "of this _thing_ between us, of what it could mean, of how important it is."

Maya bit her lip. She wasn't ready to say it out loud, but maybe he had just started to put into words what she had been feeling, why the idea of this being more than what it already was filled her with panic. At one point, it was about Riley, and it still was a little, but, now, mostly, it was about Maya herself.

"And I understand why," Lucas said. "I'm not coming into this from exactly the same place as you, you've had things happen in your life that you care with you...but I understand that fear, because I feel it too."

"If you feel it too, then how can you be so sure about this?" Maya asked.

"Because what's the point of feeling it, if nothing good comes from it?" Lucas replied. "You're afraid that, if you give into this, it could go away. That I could go away. And I've thought about those what ifs too—"

"I don't handle what ifs well," Maya's voice was small, betraying just how uncertain she was. She took a deep breath and decided to dive in for once. "I'm going to be sentimental for a minute. Try not to hold it against me. I just have to say it. This, whatever this is, it's already too much. I never should have let it get this far, because if I lose _this_ , as it is right now, it'll hurt more than anything I can imagine. If I let it become more and then I screw it up, it'll _destroy_ me."

"And what if it doesn't get screwed up? What if it's great? What if it makes us both happy?" Lucas asked. He tried to tilt his head to meet her eyes, but she avoided his gaze.

"You know I don't have that kind of luck," Maya said.

"This has nothing to do with luck," Lucas said. "Fate, maybe, but not luck."

"Oh, lord, Huckleberry. You did not just use the 'F' word," Maya laughed weakly and shook her head.

"What would you call it then?" Lucas countered. "What brought you to my door that night? What about it kept bringing us closer even after it was over? It could have been Riley by your side that night or you could have gone alone. It could have been Riley and me on that yearbook page, or none of us. I could be in the dance right now with Riley as my date or with someone else entirely. Our lives could have gone a thousand different ways, but they turned out like this. What brought us to this moment, if not fate?"

"Coincidence and Charlie Gardner," Maya replied.

Lucas huffed a laugh. "Maybe, but I don't buy that. And I don't think you do either."

"You could hurt me," Maya said, because she had let him in so far that he would leave her in ruins on his way out. "I could hurt you," she added, because that was her real fear, that he wouldn't just leave, that she would drive him away. "We could hurt each other."

"That's possible. All of that could happen, I won't lie and say it couldn't. But it might not. We don't know the future," Lucas said. "What I do know, is we _will_ hurt ourselves _right now_ if we don't try."

It would have been so much easier if she could see the future. If she could know that, years from ow, she wouldn't look back and regret giving all of herself to this boy in front of her. But, maybe that was what made it worth it in the end. It meant they got to discover it together. The fact that the future was unpredictable, was both the worst _and_ best thing about it. It made it scary, sure, but it also made it exciting. It wouldn't be an adventure if she could see what was past the horizon. Knowing the ending took the risk out of it, made it safe, but it would also be boring. Maya couldn't know if, down the line, saying yes to this would lead to joy or regret. She did know that she would look back and regret not finding out.

"You're going to do whatever you feel is right for you. I would never dream of trying to force you into something you're not comfortable with," Lucas said. "I just want you to know that I've grown to depend on you as much as you have on me, that _this_ , as it is now, between us means more to me than I ever thought it could. I want you to be happy. I want you to believe you can be happy, that you _deserve_ to be happy. And, however this all turns out, I'm not going anywhere."

"What are you saying?" Maya met his eyes now, finally.

"Someday you will be loved," Lucas said, taking a step closer and reaching out for her hands, "and I'm hoping it'll be by me."

Lucas didn't take her hands, he let her make the decision to close the gap. And she did. Maya slipped her hands into his, lacing their fingers together and using the hold on him to bring herself a step closer to him as well. She titled her head up so she could keep her eyes locked on his. She let a smile creep across her lips and by the time it had filled her face, Lucas was smiling back with that precious smile of his that belonged to her now.

"I'd like to let you," Maya said. "I'd really like more than that, because, frankly, I would like the chance to give back what you've given me. It's only fair."

"Okay," Lucas nodded. "Although, I would say that you don't own me anything."

"Of course you would. You're Lucas the Good," Maya said. "You've always been good for me. You've always been good to me. But...what if I'm not good for you?"

"You already are. Don't you see that, Maya?" Lucas said. "Do you think I could have _this_ with someone else?" he shook his head. "No, this only works when it's you and me. Whatever happens, happens—as long as it's with you."

"I _am_ scared. I'm terrified," Maya said, because it was time to be completely honest. "I really, _really_ like you, but I don't know if I can handle being hurt by you. I don't know if I can handle being someone who hurt _you_."

"Then we won't be those people," Lucas said.

"You make it sound so easy," Maya replied. "And a few minutes ago, you said it could all go wrong—"

"I know what I said," Lucas cut in and gave her hands a comforting squeeze. "And it's still true, but it's just this easy: right now, in this moment, do I make you happy?"

"Probably more than anything," Maya nodded. "Yes."

"And you make me happy, in case you need to hear it. You make me ridiculously happy even when you're constantly trying to keep me at bay," Lucas said, and Maya smiled wider. "So, right now, let's just focus on making each other happy. Let's just _be_ happy. We'll worry about someday when someday gets here."

"Turns out," Maya said. "I can't say no to you."

"At least that goes both ways," Lucas responded. "Although, you have given me more grief with your yes than I ever have with mine."

"Oh, shush up, Huckleberry," Maya rolled her eyes. She used her hold on his hands to tug him closer and balance herself as she pressed herself up onto her toes to reach his lips for a kiss.

The kiss didn't last very long, just long enough for him to get over his surprise and kiss her back. Long enough for him to release one of her hands so he could cup her cheek and pull her closer. Long enough for her to wrap her now free hand around his waist. Long enough for her to melt into him with a sigh. Long enough for him to smile smuggly into the kiss. And really, no one was counting, but maybe it lasted pretty long after all. When they pulled away, they were both smiling again and Maya was a little lightheaded. She took that as a good sign, because she couldn't imagine anything could feel better than that.

"Well that makes up for everything," Lucas murmured as he caught his breath.

Maya shoved him away playfully, but was pleased when he swayed right back into her personal space.

"So," Lucas said after a minute of just occupying the same space. "Can we go back to the dance now? I believe you promised me a square dance."

And just like that, they bypassed any awkwardness that may or may not have eased its way in, and settled right back into their natural rhythm. Only, it was better, because now it came with a _real,_ honest relationship and the kissing, which Maya would gladly admit—at least to herself—she could get used to. It could go all sorts of wrong, blow up in their faces, end their friendship as they knew it—but this was Lucas, and if he had taught her anything at all, it was that she had every right to hope for better. She was going to appreciate everything she already had—him included—and believe that this was going to go all sorts of right, because it had the potential to be the best thing in her life, tied with her friendship with Riley and everything that was happening between her mom and Shawn. Maybe, though, _this_ had a bit of an edge over the other two.

"I'm pretty sure I promised you anything _but_ a square dance," Maya replied, although she let him wrap an arm around her and lead her back toward the dance.

"All I heard was square dance," Lucas continued to tease.

Maya laughed. "You must have hay in your ears, Cowboy."

"I thought you couldn't say no to me?"

"If there was ever an exception, this would be it."

They were still bantering back and forth when they made their way back into the Semi-Formal. Maya was thrilled with the bubbly feeling that threatened to fill her up and float her away like so many helium balloons spilling into the sky. She had felt this way with Lucas before, when she didn't have a label for it, but on a smaller scale. It wasn't all that different now, just _more_. Everything was more, and all it had taken was a moment. She was still scared, nervous about all the little changes happening at once, but she was going to let go and enjoy this. For at least one night, the universe was her best friend.

Speaking of her best friends, Maya and Lucas almost tripped right over Riley on their way back into the dance. She was waiting for their return. That was the only explanation for why she was lingering in the entryway and not elsewhere with her date or their other friends. Maya was worried for a second that the tension from before was going to seep back in, but then Riley turned on the first genuine and completely uninhibited smile that Maya had seen on her in a long time.

"Well, hello there," Riley singsonged and Maya relaxed. Her best friend was her usual chipper self. It was a miraculous transformation; Maya hoped it didn't become temporary after what she had to say next.

"Riley, I have to tell you that we—Lucas and I—we—" Maya started, stepping away from Lucas toward Riley.

"Yeah, _I saw_ ," Riley said. "Did you think I was going to stay in the girls' room forever?"

Maya crinkled her nose. "You saw?"

"Yep," Riley popped the 'p' and nodded.

" _Everything?_ " Maya asked.

"Enough," Riley said.

"Are you okay?" Maya searched her friend's face for even the slightest hint that she wasn't as fine as she was about to claim she was.

"I'm good," Riley said. "I told you, you're the one that's right for him. I believe that."

"Just like that everything's okay?" Maya said.

"If you're happy, I'm happy. That's how this best friend thing works," Riley replied. "Remember?"

"I remember," Maya nodded.

"Good, because it's about time that worked both ways," Riley said. She leaned around Maya to catch the eye of Lucas, where he was standing in silence, patiently waiting for them to talk it out. "Did you hear what I said, mister? _She's_ the one for you, and I know our girl can take care of herself, but if you hurt her, you hurt me, and then I'll have to hurt you. Are you clear?"

"I understand." Lucas knew better than to laugh at Riley's attempt at sounding stern and tough.

But Maya burst into giggles.

"Hey, I'm trying to make a gesture here," Riley poked Maya in the arm. "As your best friend, it is my duty to strike fear in your boyfriend to inspire him to treat you with kindness and respect, and you're undermining—"

"Boyfriend?" Maya's giggles dried up instantly at that word. She turned to Lucas. "Is that what you are?"

Lucas smiled that darn smile and she melted. "Well, I was hoping you'd be my girlfriend, so..."

Maya nodded.

"Then, yes, that's what I am," Lucas said.

"I guess I have the words then," Maya murmured to herself. " _Finally_."

Maya held out her hand to Lucas and he took it, their fingers fitting together with ease. She pulled him back to her side and he leaned into her. His gaze was intense on her again and she had to look away to hide the blush that was already rising in her cheeks. Her smile never wavered though. In fact, it widened when Lucas leaned in to press a kiss to the crown of her head.

Riley cleared her throat to get their attention back. It was nice that it was the average brand of awkward and not something that ran deeper this time. Maya and Lucas each shot her sheepish looks as an apology, which she dismissed with a wave of her hand.

"I've been neglecting my date, so I think it's about time I found Charlie and hit the dance floor again," Riley said, starting to move further into the room. "Would you two like to join us?"

"We'd love that," Lucas said, after sharing a quick look with Maya for confirmation.

"Yeah, let's grab Farkle and Smackle, make it a party," Maya agreed as they started to follow Riley. "But first we need to have a discussion about your idea of what it means to 'strike fear.'"

"Hey, I have—" Riley began.

"—moxy," Maya finished.

" _We know_ ," she chorused with Lucas.

There had been a few bumps and obstacles along the way, but the way things were shaping up, Maya was comfortable enough to hope that the night would turn out to be everything she expected. She might have even gone so far as to think it might be even better. Even if she had no way of knowing the ending, she was ready for the journey that lead there. Maybe she had been ready since she raised her hand to knock on his door; she just hadn't known it yet. With her best friend on one side and her _boyfriend—_ she would need to learn to get used to that wonderful word—on the other, Maya was ready for whatever came next.

.

.

 **A/N2:** So, I suffer from an affliction that results in the writing of empty hallway kisses in, like, 99.99% of my Lucaya fics (although this time it turns out the hallway wasn't _quite_ empty), but I know I have at least one reader who has a particular fondness for them. So this one was for **_bsloths_. ** Hope it stands up with the rest of the hallway kisses, ha. The next chapter will be out soon (possibly with the bonus chapter right after that). I hope everyone has enjoyed this so far! Let me know what you think! ~Mac


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N:** This is officially the last chapter of this story! I hope you've all enjoyed this little journey these lovely little muffins have gone on as much as I have. This chapter mirrors chapter one and makes a neat little bookend. Even though, as I've said before there's a fun little (although actually average length for this story) bonus chapter coming along after this (probably tomorrow, just to give this chapter a chance to settle before I send it off). As always, please enjoy! Let me know what you think! And...look out for the sequel story ( _Keep Love In Your Heart_ ), because these two apparently aren't done with me, even though this story is at it's close. Enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Fifteen**

Maya had lived in New York City long enough that she thought she knew what it felt like to have achy feet and muscles so sore that her legs were about to give out, but nothing had prepared her for the kind of exhaustion she felt by the end of the Semi-Formal. After all that dancing and running around and emotional revelations, her body had reached new levels of discomfort and weariness. Maya was so worn out that she had almost asked Lucas to carry her home. And she meant _almost_ , because, one, she still had some dignity left and, two, he probably would have swept her right up into his arms if she did. And after all the moments they had had that night, she had reached her romantic quota. Anymore and she might have dissolved into a puddle of giddy girl goop. What would that do for her reputation? No, she had braved her way through it, because every second had been worth it.

Even though it had been one of the most amazing nights of her life, she was a little relieved when she was able to say her goodbyes for the evening. Once she was through her door, it meant she could finally slip off her heels, let down her hair and unwrap herself from that dress. Maybe she missed Lucas's smiling face as soon as she closed the door on it, but the rest of her body was going to thank her when she was able to sink into her bed to sleep for the rest of the weekend. Only, there was one more obstacle between her and her bed and that was her mom waiting for her on the couch when she got home.

"Hello, baby girl," Katy called over her shoulder as Maya toed off her heels by the door. She had the TV on with the volume low, but her attention was completely on her daughter.

"I thought you might be waiting for me," Maya said as she crossed the room to sit down on the other side of the couch. She started pulling the pins from her hair as she went and by the time she was sitting, her hair fell entirely loose around her face.

"I did tell you that one day we would have a chat like this about your special boy and your magical night," Katy replied. "I'd say tonight qualifies, wouldn't you?"

"Oh, it qualifies," Maya said and she was almost surprised by the dreamy quality her voice had taken on. "Lucas is..."

"Lucas is," Katy agreed.

Maya rolled her head to the side to smile at her mom. "This is what you meant when you told me what it feels like when something is important to you and you take chances, isn't it?"

"You've got the flutters in your stomach?"

"I think I've felt them for awhile, but only just realized what it was that I was feeling," Maya said. "I think I was holding back. Part of it had to do with Riley, because I was worried about how _she_ would feel, but it was mostly about me. I wasn't ready to let go until I was sure."

"I know all about that, baby girl," Katy patted Maya's nearest hand softly. "But certainty and feelings do not go hand in hand."

"I'm coming to terms with that," Maya said.

"So, tell me all about it," Katy said and then called back to their first conversation like this when the roles were reversed. "Was it amazing? Fantastic? Out of this world spectacular?"

"All of the above," Maya answered. "We danced, and had punch, ate these silly little cookies they put out as refreshments that made us wish for a couple of our favorite pastries from _Topanga's_. And then we danced some more. Hop Along even convinced me to dance with him to some country songs. It was no square dance, but it was equally excruciating and fun. I don't know how he talked me into it."

"I think that giant grin on your face might be an answer," Katy replied, to which Maya rolled her eyes and grinned wider as her blush deepened. "Tell me what else happened."

"Well, not much else really," Maya said, turning her gaze down to her lap. "Riley took a lot of pictures on her phone. I can show them to you when she sends them to me. She seems to like Charlie a lot more now that she's mostly sorted out her feelings. There's a good chance that Farkle might have a thing with Smackle and there's a good chance Zay will never have a shot with a cheerleader, although he will keep trying, bless his heart."

"Mmhmm," Katy prompted her to keep going.

"Oh, and Lucas asked me to be his girlfriend," Maya added as if it was an afterthought and not the thing that had crowded itself to the front of her mind since the moment they made it official. "You'll have to tell Shawn about that little development, because he's going to need your moral support while he processes that tidbit of information."

Katy smiled. "I take it you noticed he's grown a little overprotective."

"It was noticeable, yes," Maya said.

"It took me an hour to calm him down after you and Lucas left. He wanted to stay and wait for you to come home, possibly to intimidate Lucas at the door, but I thought that might be overdoing it a bit," Katy said. "I did have to promise him that you and I would spend tomorrow with him, just the three of us, in order to get him to leave. I hope that's okay."

"That sounds great," Maya said.

"He really cares about you," Katy said.

"He cares about us," Maya corrected, looking back up at her mom again.

Katy smiled once again. "I believe you are right about that. But don't think you can distract me with mentions of Shawn. I want to know the rest about your night."

"There is no rest of," Maya insisted, but she could no longer meet her mom's eyes. "There was a band and more dancing and when it was over, Lucas walked me home like the gentleman cowboy that he is."

" _And_ …?" Katy raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I think it's time to call it a night," Maya pushed herself back onto her feet, even though her muscles protested after so long at rest. "I need to get out of this dress and I could sleep for a million years—"

Maya was halfway to her room when Katy called after her. "He kissed you. He kissed ya good, didn't he?"

Maya froze for a half step, smiling to herself, but she didn't say no.

…

Besides a few texts, sneakily sent and received, during her day out with her mom and Shawn, Maya didn't get to see or really talk to Lucas until Monday morning at school. That was not to say that he wasn't on her mind in the meantime. She kept replaying their moment in the hall over and over in her head. She caught herself drifting off into daydreams with alarming, Riley-esque frequency. A couple of times during their outing, her mom had to literally snap her out of it. Each time, Katy just sent her a knowing smile and they returned to business as usual. Maya was in deep, and the more obvious that became, the more desperate she grew to see Lucas. Texts were an inadequate means to gauge what he was thinking or feeling. She needed to see his face so she could know for sure—a once and for all, for sure—that they were in this together. She needed to know that she hadn't imagined that magical night, that night that had been everything she never expected to have for herself. She needed to know it was real and not something she had dreamed up.

It didn't matter that there was confirmation enough in her mom's knowing smile, or the curious looks Shawn sent her every time she eyed her phone, or the voice mail message Riley left her in the middle of the night hours after the dance, wide awake and once again giddy about the future—this time with all the characters rearranged and swapping roles. Maya needed to see it in his eyes and at the corners of his smile. Only then would she believe it. She had a feeling she was going to need this proof many times over the course of this. Lucky for her, Lucas was just the kind of person who would be willing to give her that reassurance over and over and never get tired of it.

Maya was a little nervous when she made her way to Lucas's locker in the morning. It was nerves in two parts. She worried that it meant more to her than it meant to him and it would make things weird between them. Or, she worried that it meant the same to both of them and _that_ would make things weird between them. She remembered what a label had done to Riley and Lucas—which was easier to think about now that Riley was _clearly_ more interested in Charlie, if the way those two were chatting it up at Riley's locker, when Maya passed by, was any indicator—and she didn't want that for her and Lucas. They needed to be better than that. She needed them to be better than that.

Rounding that last corner, Maya took one last deep breath in hopes of calming the fluttering in her stomach and brought herself to a stop beside Lucas. They had a locker door opened between them, so Maya opened her mouth to announce her arrival, but Lucas's voice carried over before she could.

"Good morning, Maya," Lucas said. He placed his last book into his locker and closed the door, before he turned to her.

Maya smiled. "Good morning, Lucas."

"What? No wild west lingo or Texan jargon?" Lucas smiled that smile down at her and that was enough to convince her that they were going to be just fine—better than fine. Everything and nothing had changed all at the same time.

"I have it on good authority from the Huckleberriest Huckleberry I know that this is the most _Texan_ greeting there is," Maya said, taking a step closer.

"Is anything really Texan if it's not punctuated with a yee-haw?" Lucas leaned in closer too.

Maya laughed lightly and tilted her face up to his. One of his hands reached up and started to wind his fingers around a few of the loose waves of hair that fell at her shoulder. The look in his eyes was still playful, but maybe a little more serious as he searched her gaze with his. Before this would have been too much, but now it was exciting, wonderful, and she wanted _more_. She pressed herself onto her toes at the same time that he dipped down to meet her. This kiss was actually quick, aware of who might see and who _would_ see, but it was enough to get Lucas's hand to close around her hair with a gentle tug and to send a shiver through Maya.

"Yee-haw," Maya murmured breathlessly as they pulled away.

"That's my girl," Lucas grinned and gave her hair another gentle tug.

"I knew it! You love the Texas talk, you think it's adorable, that's why you've never made me stop," Maya said.

"Well, do you think I would let _just anyone_ call me Huckleberry nine thousand times?" Lucas said lowly, his forehead brushing against hers as he leaned in for her to hear.

"I must be pretty special, because I'm sure we passed nine thousand times way back in week one," Maya said.

"You are," Lucas said. "You are _very_ special."

"Ha-hurr," Maya whispered, leaning up and brushing her nose over his.

Lucas chuckled. "That might be my favorite."

"Mine too," Maya said.

"So," Lucas cleared his throat after a beat, and things got a little serious again. "I would like to take you out again. We could do whatever you like, but I thought that since we've sort of done the movie thing before, that we might try...dinner?"

Maya smiled. "I would love that."

"Great," Lucas said. "It's a date."

"It's a date," Maya agreed.

So, this was it. Maya Hart was officially dating Lucas "Ranger Rick" Friar. This was not what she thought her story was going to be. In fact, she had never thought she had a story of her own to tell, at least not one that wasn't just a sub-plot to Riley's epic fairytale. But this was it. This was her story and she liked it more than she knew how to admit. If they could be like _this_ everyday along the way, she would follow this path wherever it led, because Lucas was that special boy, who made her smile for no reason and filled her with joy and light. He was the one who, not only, made her happy, but also the one who made her believe in a true and genuine happiness, a happiness that she not only deserved, but could actually have. Maya wasn't ready to fantasize about what their future would look like, but maybe someday it would be something more amazing than anything she could dream up now. Until then, Lucas had given her something real, something grounded, something she could hold onto that would carry her through—and that meant the world to her.

"Hey, are you two love birds coming to class, or what?" Zay's voice echoed across he hall.

Maya and Lucas both turned their heads to seek out the source of their interruption. When their eyes landed on him, Zay waggled his eyebrows at them and kept walking right past them with Riley and Farkle. Riley smiled and gave them a small wave before she kept going as well. Farkle nodded in acknowledgment and then sent them a thumbs up behind his back once he was past them.

Maya shook her head at their friends' antics, but a small laugh escaped her lips.

"I guess we should—" Lucas started.

"Come on, Lone Star," Maya pivoted around him and started toward their classroom. "Time to make hay while the sun shines."

"You know, I get that these are directed at me," Lucas said as he followed, "but sometimes I have no idea what they even mean."

Maya spun around, gripped her hands into Lucas's shirt and dragged him in close. She smirked up at him. "Let's make the most of today."

Lucas smiled that darn smile that she was never going to get enough of and said, "I can do that."

" _We_ can do that," Maya agreed and released him, only to slip her hand into his to lace their fingers together as they headed down the hall to their classroom. "Enjoy the moment, Huckleberry."

"I enjoy every moment with you, Maya," Lucas said.

"You're going to spoil me if you keep that up," Maya replied.

Lucas swayed into her and lowered his mouth to her ear to whisper a single word, " _Balderdash_."

When Maya laughed, it was loud enough that the whole school probably heard it. And that was it: the announcement to the world whatever this thing was, it was worth every step it took to get there and every step they would take from there. Maya was still counting on someday, and maybe she would never reach it, but _today_ was already good, so she was just fine with that. She was more than fine. She was _ready_.

-the end-

 **A/N2:** And that's a wrap. But wait! There's more! Bonus chapter coming up tomorrow, then I'm slapping a _complete_ on this thing. Any guesses on what that bonus chapter might entail? Let me know in a review. Hint: It's a throwback to _That Girl Has Love,_ the one shot that started it all. Once again, I hope you've all enjoyed this story as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Thanks for all the favs, follows and reviews! You're all awesome and I love ya! ~Mac


	16. Bonus Chapter

**A/N:** And because I couldn't resist, this is a bonus chapter. It was more for fun than anything, because I literally couldn't not write out this scene. And once it was written, I might as well share the fun with you, right? And to one of the Guest reviewers, good work with your guess! (also thanks for the lovely review, since I can't respond directly). Now, without further ado...enjoy! R&R! Thanks! ~Mac

 **Fun fact _(which might make a Farkle comment make sense, maybe, who knows_ ): **The geographic center of the United States is located in Kansas. Kansas is the black and white home that Dorothy escapes from in _The Wizard of Oz._

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own GMW.

 **Bonus Chapter**

"I don't think we should be doing this," Katy hissed as she followed a half step behind him.

"They're not going to see us, it's fine. Come on," Shawn replied without looking back at her. His gaze was locked on what was ahead of them. He gestured for Katy to catch up. "Besides, turnabout is fair play."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katy asked as she took a couple extra strides to fall in step with Shawn.

Shawn's eyes widened as he glanced at her and then darted his gaze away. " _Nothing_."

"Alright, mister, we're gonna talk about that when we get back to the apartment," Katy said, "but right now, we need to duck, because Maya's turning this way."

Katy tugged on Shawn's arm to pull him behind the side of a bus stop overhang and out of sight before they could be caught. When Shawn had showed up and invited her for a night out on the town, she hadn't thought he meant following her daughter around while she was on a date with Lucas. While Katy thought it was sweet that Shawn's soft spot for Maya was so large and it only reassured her that she had made one of the best decisions of her life when she welcomed him so fully into their lives, she was pretty sure him resorting to spying on Maya as a means of looking after her _was_ overdoing it a little. And he had roped her into joining him somehow—it must have been that darn smile. He had tricked her with compliments.

"Let's go," Shawn peeked his head around the bus stop to check if they'd been spotted. "Coast is clear."

Katy sighed but followed anyway. She had already committed to this crazy scheme; she would have to see it through. She had a new found respect for Topanga. Katy already thought the Mrs. Matthews was leaps and bounds beyond the rest, but she had survived her husband and _this one_ for decades, that was a lifetime achievement in itself.

"We should go back," Katy tried once more to get Shawn to see some sense.

"When Riley went on her first date, Cory sent her with supervision," Shawn said.

"You know, technically, their first date was the dance," Katy replied.

"Uh huh."

"Which was highly supervised. By Cory himself even."

"Uh huh."

Katy continued when it was clear her last comments had no effect whatsoever. "And I have every reason to trust my daughter."

"And you trust the cowboy too?" Shawn asked.

"As a matter of fact, I do," Katy said.

"That's because you've never been a boy his age."

"You might as well be a boy his age."

"You like that about me," Shawn flashed a grin her way.

Katy tried to keep a straight face, but she was done in by that smile. Her shoulders drooped, but she smiled through the sigh that worked free. "Yeah, you're right. I do." When Shawn's smile threatened to get out of control. "It also gets us into situations like this, which I must say is, sort of charming, but also very annoying."

"Shush," Shawn abruptly said, pulling her to duck down out of sight to watch Maya and Lucas enter the restaurant. "Look at them."

During the entire trip to dinner, Maya and Lucas had walked hand in hand. Lucas only let go now to open the door for Maya. He pulled open the door and bowed slightly as he gestured her through. Maya rolled her eyes and laughed as she went in, patting him on the chest as she passed. His arm slipped around her waist and tugged her against his side when he followed her in.

"Smooth move."

Katy and Shawn turned to find that, a few feet away, Riley and Farkle were also crouched down out of sight as they too watched Maya and Lucas. The comment had come from Farkle, addressed to Riley, as they had yet to realize they had company.

"Lucas is a gentleman," Riley replied. "That's his thing."

"You guys are here too?" Shawn blurted out, frowning as he took in the two kids. Katy hoped maybe that development would send him a well needed hint about his current actions, but it took only a couple seconds to realize that it would probably only encourage him.

"Riley made me," Farkle threw up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Hi, Uncle Shawn," Riley just smiled and elbowed Farkle for the accusation. Farkle grunted and crumpled away from her. "Fancy seeing you here. What brings you out tonight?"

"Nice night for a walk," Shawn replied.

"And that's why we're hiding behind a planter," Katy mumbled to herself.

"Y'all just decided to follow Maya and Lucas around all night being all sneaky and stalkerish, and that's okay? No one sees a problem with that? Tow of you are grown people."

Just beyond Riley and Farkle, perched on a railing and not making any attempt to stay out of sight, was Zay. He had his arms crossed over his chest as he stared down at the four spies instead of at Maya and Lucas in the restaurant. He had one eyebrow raised as he shook his head and clucked his tongue.

" _For shame_ ," Zay added.

"You do realize that you're here too," Riley said.

"And if they're going to see any of us," Farkle replied, stating the obvious, "it's gonna be you."

"I'm always up in everyone's business and they never know it," Zay said with a shrug. "Half the time, I talk and no one even notices. I could disappear for a month and pop back in like I was never gone. And I would _still_ know more about what was happening in all y'all lives than you knew yourselves. It's a gosh darn talent. I bet you a dollar I could leave right now without any of you realizing—yup, you already stopped listening. You already forgot about me. You owe me a dollar."

"They're being seated," Farkle said, his eyes back on the windows into the restaurant.

Riley's head perked up, "What's happening? Can you see? I can't see. Oh, wait there they are. Look at my Peaches, all sophisticated and letting Lucas pull out her chair for her. She would never let anyone else do that for her. I think I'm going to have Charlie take me here when we finally go on our own date."

"Sure, sure," Farkle said. "But what do you think they'll do if they catch us. I mean, with a face like yours, you're untouchable, but I'm fragile. Lucas could kick me from here to somewhere over the rainbow and if _Maya_ gets her hands on me I'll be sleeping with the fishes, of the _Pacific_ ocean."

"You'll be fine," Riley said. "They're not gonna catch us. Now, _shush_. Look at them."

After seeing the extent of the kids' enthusiasm over spying, Shawn turned to Katy, looking a little sheepish. "You were probably right. We shouldn't be doing this. Besides, these guys pretty much have it covered."

"Oh, of course I was, hun," Katy smiled at him and gave his shoulder a squeeze. "But your heart was in the right place. Let's give it a couple minutes and then maybe we can grab a bite to eat ourselves."

"I know a place about a block from here," Shawn agreed as they also turned back to watch.

Inside the restaurant, at a table not far from the front windows of the restaurant, Maya and Lucas had just been seated by the hostess. They were left to look over the menus and to enjoy a complimentary basket of rolls. They each had their menus folded open on the table in front of them. For a few minutes, as their eyes scanned the options, they were quiet, simply basking in the atmosphere and each other's company.

"You know we have an audience," Lucas said, without looking up from his menu.

"Do you mean Riley, Farkle and Zay to the right?" Maya asked, also not looking up from her menu. She flipped to the next page of entrees. "Or my mom and Shawn slowly slinking away to the left?"

"I was actually referring to Mr. Matthews," Lucas said. "He's at the table behind the plant."

To their other side, a few leaves on the fake potted plant in question parted wide enough for someone to glance through and then snapped back into place.

Maya laughed. "It means they care."

"What's a guy gotta do to get you alone?"

Lucas met her eyes across the table and they shared a smile. He closed his menu and reached over to hold her hand on the table top. Maya laced her fingers with his, enjoying the moment even if it was yet another one for everyone to see. At least this time there was no ambiguity about the gesture. There were no sugar packet exchanges. This was entirely in context.

The plant rustled again.

Maya rolled her eyes and released Lucas's hand. "Excuse me, one second."

Maya unfolded the cloth napkin lining their basket of rolls. She picked out a particularly hefty roll, weighing it in the palm of her hand. Satisfied with it, she turned it around in her hand and adjusted her grip on it. Then, with only slightly surprising accuracy, threw it straight through the suspiciously moving leaves to nail her target. There was an exclamation of a very familiar "argh!" and a small clatter and thump as if something had fallen from a chair. Maya grinned once again and turned back to Lucas, taking his hand in hers.

"Now, where were we?"

-fin-


End file.
